Remarks of Delegate Brian Moran to the Virginia Sierra Club Fall Jamboree
September 13, 2008

Good Afternoon. Thank you for that warm introduction. It’s great to be here today to share my thoughts on protecting Virginia’s environment.

It’s fitting that we’re meeting here in Pocahontas State Park - the state’s largest park. We need only look at the beauty around us to be reminded that environmental protection and conservation are not just policy positions; they are about the values we share and the legacy we want to leave to the next generation.

When I was 10 years old, I saved up the money I earned from mowing lawns to buy an acre of wooded land with a small creek running through it. And as I look back, I can see how the values I grew up with taught me a deep respect and appreciation for the environment – for our environment, values I’ve carried with me to this day. And these are values I’m passing on to my children - with a compost pile in the backyard and a six-year-old who knows exactly what to put in the recycling bin.

Today, I still believe that every acre of land – every stream, wetland, seashore, mountaintop – every part of God’s creation deserves our respect and protection. And our commitment that they will be here for generations to come.

Back when I was a local prosecutor, my wife Karyn and I were out to dinner with our friends Mark and Lisa -- that was back when we called him “Mark” not “Governor” – that night he suggested that I run for the House of Delegates. Sometimes, though, I wonder what would have happened if he would have just given me some stock tips, instead.

In the General Assembly, I’ve been proud to be your partner on important issues:

• Promoting green buildings and LEED standards for state construction;
• Creating a tax credit for renewable energy production;
• Establishing tele-work plans for state agencies and employees;
• Proposing a transportation plan that emphasized mass transit and rail because we need walkable, livable communities -- with fewer cars and smarter land-use planning;
• And I stood on the sands of Virginia Beach with the mayor and the Sierra Club to say “no” to offshore drilling.

The work you, and the 17,000 members of the Sierra Club do, make clear that we can address the issues that threaten our environment. And it’s why I am so proud of my 100% rating from the League of Conservation Voters this year.

Your work is incredibly important. From your advocacy in the General Assembly and local government to education and your work in our schools, you’re setting the bar high for all of us in elected office. You’re holding our feet to the fire – thank you for doing that.

I believe decreasing our impact on the environment is essential. Just a few weeks ago, I purchased carbon offsets to neutralize the carbon footprint of the Virginia delegation to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. That action alone will not solve the problem, but it is important for each of us to do our part.

I look forward to the day when we live in a more environmentally sustainable way and the cost of protecting our environment is built into the cost of doing business – when we can say that our economic activity is in sync with our environmental impact.

Since I’ve returned from the Democratic Convention - the first-ever green convention - I’ve been thinking it’s disappointing that protecting our environment has become a partisan issue.

Whether it was Teddy Roosevelt, who set aside almost 200 million acres for preservation, or Richard Nixon, who created the Environmental Protection Agency, this used to be a bipartisan effort.

But these days the pro-environment Republican has become an endangered species.

Our commonwealth and our country need leaders who share our values, and who will stand up for future generations - because the stakes have never been higher.

The fact is that our challenges today are interconnected. Our transportation, land-use and energy policies effect our environment; our environmental policies and economic development plans affect each other.

Leading this commonwealth requires an understanding that the challenges we face – and the solutions we seek – affect each other like never before.

That’s why we must reject the false choice between growing our economy and protecting our environment. We can create jobs by investing in a 21st century energy economy.

That means putting Virginians to work in good, high-paying jobs in green construction, bringing manufacturing jobs back by investing in wind turbines, and creating new industries by investing in alternative energy research.

As the Sierra Club recently reported, we can create 55,000 new jobs in Virginia with this kind of investment. We can start to build tomorrow’s economy today.

Opportunities exist right here in Virginia. Whether it’s working toward Virginia’s first wind farm in Highland County, our switch grass plant in Chatham, or the biodiesel truck stop in Henry County, we can tackle climate change and create jobs.

Just recently, the Washington Post wrote about one state that’s leading the way in wind energy -- a state that’s doubled its wind capacity in the past 18 months, bringing new jobs and investments in research. That state is Colorado.

Folks, that needs to be us.

We should be leading the way in wind, solar and biomass. Virginia should be getting those jobs. I can promise you one thing – if I’m fortunate enough to be elected your governor, they’ll be writing those stories about us! We should be investing in offshore wind, not offshore drilling. Offshore wind can supply 20% of our electricity needs here in Virginia. It’s time we got serious about wind energy.

Let’s be clear about this: We cannot drill our way out of the energy crisis. We can’t cure our addiction to oil by drilling for more. We can’t tackle 21st century problems with 19th century solutions.

And let’s get serious about energy efficiency. It’s one of the fastest and most effective ways to reduce CO2 emissions, save Virginians money and reduce our use of fossil fuels. In a recent report, Virginia ranked 38th in the nation for efficiency and conservation programs.

We must do better.

We have to start by putting smart meters in our homes, so that our families can use energy when it’s the cheapest and use less of it and by making green buildings that are more energy efficient and cheaper to operate.

And we have to do more to conserve oil and gas with smarter, more efficient cars and transportation systems because the most important gallon of gas is the one we don’t use. And while we can’t drill our way out of this problem, we can grow our way out of it, by investing in crops that produce biomass and biofuels.

Clearly, there is no single solution – no one way to solve this problem. And Virginia can’t do it alone -- but we must do our part. We must invest in research and development, partnering with UVA, Virginia Tech, and all our great universities to ensure that future breakthroughs happen right here. Virginia can and should lead in this - one of the great challenges of the 21st century.

But doing all this won’t be easy. From the capitol in Richmond to the halls of Washington, it’s going to take a joint commitment – the type of commitment we haven’t seen since John Kennedy challenged us to land a man on the moon. It’s going to take another Apollo Mission to get this done. Virginia can’t lead our nation, and our nation can’t lead this world, if we stay behind in this race. This is a mission we can’t postpone and a challenge we can’t fail to meet.

Teddy Roosevelt set the standard for us all when he said, “The Nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets… which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value…and behaves badly if it leaves the land poorer to those who come after….” People ask whether protecting our environment will help our economy, and it will. But this is about something greater. Are we judged by how we best exploit our resources for economic gain? Or do we measure success by the legacy we leave behind? We must act, as Roosevelt said, “So that our children will be richer, and not poorer because we have lived.” That must be our standard. That is how we will be judged.

Thank you for the opportunity to be here today and for all your hard work. Thank you and God bless you.