I participated Wednesday in a White House meeting President Obama hosted with a small group of environmental, business, labor, and veterans leaders to discuss the president’s clean energy and climate change agenda.
He left no doubt about his commitment to securing a strong international agreement next week in Copenhagen and to pressing for passage of the clean energy and climate legislation now before the Senate.
In the hour-long West Wing meeting, the president made three things emphatically clear: We can make our economy stronger and our country more secure. We can put Americans back to work with clean energy jobs that can't be shipped overseas. And we can cut carbon pollution.
These are vital objectives every American can get behind. This is about jobs. It's about national security. It's about the future of our country.
That's why I told the president he can depend on the NRDC to use every engine of persuasion at our disposal to help advance these essential goals.
We will work with the president to help pass clean energy and climate legislation. And we urge all Americans to support the president's mission to secure international cooperation at Copenhagen.
President Obama understands that addressing climate change will require comprehensive global action. He's not asking Americans to act alone.
He's ready to work with other nations on this, and he's been doing so, coordinating closely in recent weeks with China and India, both of which have stepped up to pledge action on climate change.
I meet with a lot of influential and intriguing people in my role on the front lines of environmental advocacy. There is, though, only one president of the United States.
I left the White House today proud to know we have a president who cares, and cares deeply, about putting Americans back to work, making our country more secure and creating a healthier future for us all. One way to do all that, he's convinced, is to get this country on the road to a clean and sustainable energy future.
That's a road we can travel together.