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Issue Position: Environmental Sustainability

Issue Position

Date: Jan. 1, 2012
Issues: Environment

We are extremely fortunate to live in the beauty of the Puget Sound region. Because we are so blessed with this splendor we feel more responsible than most to maintain its pristine nature. It is incumbent upon us as individuals to do everything we can to reduce our polluting footprint upon this area. Government policy alone cannot solve the issue, but responsible citizens working hand in glove with the government and private enterprise CAN clean up the Puget Sound region. These policies cannot value one area of the environment over the other, and we humans should also be part of the equation when addressing the environment.

Too often politicians and so called "environmental" groups use the environment as cover for personal political gain or blatant obstructionism. We must address the tough environmental issues of our day with a holistic approach rather than in politically expedient "sounds bites." These solutions must address the problems in a global manner that includes both developed and underdeveloped countries (the Kyoto Protocol only addresses developed nations and our air pollution is largely coming from China, an underdeveloped nation).

In order to maintain sustainability, public policy must reflect a combination of environmental science, economic viability, and public support. By leaving out any of these three critical components you merely create political correct "sound bites" but do not actually create true sustainability. Armed with a Ph.D. in Sustainable Development, Larry is the most knowledgable candidate for the US House of Representatives nation-wide. As a member of the Creek Indian tribe, Larry respects the wisdom of his Native American fore-fathers, and Chief Seattle of the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes said it best in his speech of 1854, "This we know: All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."


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