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This afternoon, the Virginia House of Delegates voted along mostly party lines to give Attorney General Cuccinelli an additional $300,000 to spend in his fight against science. Specifically, the money can be spent on a lawsuit against the EPA's endangerment finding and related global warming rules.
If you'll recall Ken Kochinelli claims that this lawsuit isn't costing Virginia taxpayers a dime. At least, that's what our FOIA request in February 2010 showed. Kochinelli and Texaco Bob McDonnell are trying to hide the truth from Virginians. While their denial of climate change appeals to their base it doesn't prepare Virginians for the looming threats of the future.
For the past year, they've cloaked patriotism in a flag of climate denial. Big oil companies, the Tea Party and their allies in elected office have argued that drilling here and now will protect America's freedom. They've argued that addressing our energy consumption will limit individual freedom, or raise energy prices.
The true threat to our freedom comes in our over reliance on fossil fuels. As Patrick Henry said in his famous "Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death" speech:
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.
What are the truths these reckless climate deniers are shielding Virginians from?
Fact 1: Climate change is real, and America must lead the way in averting disaster for the entire planet. Climate deniers like Ken Cuccinelli and Bob McDonnell can claim that the science is in dispute, but it is not. More than 99% of scientist agree that climate change is real and if we don't take dramatic steps in the next 10 to 15 years to address it the planet will suffer dire consequences.
Fact 2: An energy policy that is to simply extract more natural resources out of the ground does not make America safer. First, if we're drilling for oil it's going onto a global market. We only have four percent of the world's reserves we're still going to be reliant on a global market for our oil. Price fluctuations and Middle Eastern politics still will have an undue influence on American security. Secondly, coal, oil, and natural gas are all finite resources. This means an energy policy that calls for more extraction is just kicking the can down the road, and harming future generations.
Fact 3: Virginia stands to suffer more than any other state in the country from this denial. The research shows that the Virginia coastline is the second most at-risk region of the United States to the threat of sea-level rise. This means that areas like Virginia Beach, the Eastern Shore and Norfolk are at risk to losing beaches, and the associated tourism dollars that those beaches generate for the Commonwealth.
Fact 4: The climate deniers are being funded by the fossil fuel industry. Let's just look at Virginia's top two climate deniers: Bob McDonnell and Ken Cuccinelli. Just last month, Bob McDonnell took $100,000 from the former CEO of Cumberland Resources which has been bought out by Massey Energy. From 2009 to 2010, Ken Cuccinelli took more than $325,000 from the energy industry. More than one-quarter of a million dollars of this money came directly from fossil fuel interest. It's no wonder he's fighting the EPA so hard. Fossil fuel companies are bankrolling his next campaign.
More importantly, these fossil fuel companies are trying to buy Virginia's next campaign this fall. Don't be fooled Virginia. Don't close your eyes and ears to the truth that stands before you. The fossil fuel industry and their allies in Virginia's executive branch don't give a rat's ass about your freedom.
They care about winning the next election and padding their bottom-line. Now the choice is ours. We can sit on our hands and watch McDonnell and Cuccinelli recklessly risk Virginia's future, or we can fight back.
I hope you'll join me in fighting back. Take a quick moment to send Texaco Bob and Ken Kochinelli an email telling them the home of Patrick Henry isn't going to let them get away with it. Today, we start fighting back.
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