"Every day that we delay trying to find a price for carbon is a day that China uses to dominate the green economy."
-- Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Our children's economic and ecological future depends on a handful of swing votes in Washington.
Your support urgently needed.
You and I share some important values. We love the natural world. We are committed to leaving our children and grandchildren a healthy green planet. And we love our country.
And you've supported environemntalism in the past because of pioneering solutions to the thorniest environmental problems we face, we need to recognize the connection between protecting the environment and our economic well-being.
The energy and climate bill now before the Senate is the most important environmental measure of the past 20 years. But it is also a critically important American jobs bill.
By putting a lid on climate pollution and making polluters pay, we can unleash a generation of American energy innovation that will secure our children's economic and ecological future.
The climate deniers, who have more than $300 million war chest, think they've won. Legions of lobbyists, millions of dollars in disinformation TV campaigns and not a few dirty tricks have taken their toll.
But I believe their celebrations are premature. This fight is far from over.
And it's a fight we absolutely must win.
I can't help but wonder how the climate deniers are going to explain themselves and to their children and grandchildren if they win.
Will they take pride in the cascade of species extinctions?
Will they brag about our addiction to Middle East oil?
Will they suggest that the spectacular fall foliage of the past was over-rated?
Or that we really didn't need polar bears?
And, I wonder, how will they explain to their children why all the clean energy jobs are in China?
While old school polluters swap high fives in Washington, China has emerged as the world's largest producer of wind turbines -- as well as the world's largest producer of solar panels. More than 1.1 million Chinese work in the renewable energy industry, with a forecast increase of 100,000 jobs a year.
Last year, China announced plans to invest almost half a trillion dollars in their new energy economy. That is roughly seven times what President Obama proposed for his fiscal 2011 budget.
The economic threat -- as well as the environmental peril to the planet -- has attracted bipartisan attention and for good reason.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham recently sounded an important alarm:
"Every day we delay trying to find a price for carbon
is a day China dominates the green economy."
We owe future generations of Americans a healthy and prosperous future. All that stands between us and that future is a handful of Senate swing votes. With your urgent support, I remain hopeful and optimistic.