Politics

Celebrating Earth Day

By Speaker Pelosi

Almost four decades ago, a group of visionary Americans energized the environmental movement, and indeed our nation, by dedicating a day to this ideal: we must preserve God?s creation, our planet, for the generations to come.

On this Earth Day, the greatest challenge facing the United States, and indeed our world, is climate change. Its effects already can be seen in severe weather, coastal flooding, deadly heat waves, and spreading infectious diseases.

That is why I made achieving energy independence and reducing global warming flagship issues of the New Direction Congress. We enacted bipartisan legislation that increases the efficiency of appliances and lighting and boosts fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks for the first time in 32 years. This increase in fuel efficiency alone will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equivalent to taking 28 million cars off the road in the year 2020 alone. We also established a Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming to raise the visibility of this crucial issue and are committed to considering carbon cap-and-trade legislation, which is critical to combating the climate crisis.

The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, “To minister to the needs of God?s creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.” On this Earth Day, and every day, let us honor the earth and our future generations with a commitment to fight climate change.

Full post as published by The Gavel on April 22, 2008 (boomark / email).