Our precious planet is in crisis. We can not survive if we continue
to act as we have over the past decades. We must recognize that the earth gives
us life and we must treat our home with respect and love. At this time of global
crisis, an opportunity emerges to come together and begin again anew.
The young leaders active in this campaign are deeply
aware of the nature of this crisis. They have felt despair at the prospect of inheriting
a planet unable to sustain life. Now, they are alive with hope and are starting
to believe we can summon the energy to save our world. Let's do it. Let's save the
world. It will be fun. The effort will create jobs and justice and we literally
can't live without it.
"America has always risen to great challenges, and our dependence on oil is one of
the greatest we have ever faced. It's a threat to our national security, our planet
and our economy. For decades, Washington has failed to solve this problem because
of partisanship, the undue influence of special interests, and politicians who would
rather propose gimmicks to get them through an election instead of long-term solutions
that will get America closer to energy independence.
Our country cannot afford politics as usual - not at a moment when the energy challenge
we face is so great and the consequences of inaction are so dangerous. We must act
quickly and we must act boldly to transform our entire economy - from our cars and
our fuels to our factories and our buildings.
Achieving this goal will not be easy. Energy independence will require far more
than the same
Washington gimmicks and continued dependence on costly and finite resources. It
will require a
sustained and shared effort by our government, our businesses, and the American
people. But America has overcome great challenges before. With clarity of direction
and leadership, there is no question that we possess the insight, resources, courage
and the determination to build a new economy that is powered by clean and secure
energy."
-Barack Obama
From: http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/factsheet_energy_speech_080308.pdf