Issue Position: Energy and Environment

Issue Position

Events of the past few years, including disasters like Hurricane Sandy, have demonstrated the increasingly high human and economic costs of severe weather. The time for arguing about the causes and pace of climate change is over. The scientific consensus is clear: climate change is happening, human beings are a significant contributing factor, and catastrophe will inevitably follow inaction. Despite this bleak projection, we still have the opportunity to mitigate the adverse effects of a warming planet and to overcome the unique challenges we will face as a human civilization.

Although the most comprehensive steps to combat and adjust for climate change must be taken at the national level, there are numerous alternatives Delaware can take at the state level. Due to Delaware's small size, the most effective steps we can take to remedy climate change involve collaboration with other states in our region. Delaware, along with Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and the District of Columbia, is currently participating in the Transportation and Climate Initiative, which aims to facilitate a clean-energy economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Northeastern states.

Within Delaware, we must continue to make investments in clean-energy infrastructure (including wind and solar alternatives) that improve our environment and quality-of-living. We should work to find the most cost-effective methods that promote clean air. Just as when the ozone challenge was tackled in the 1980s and 1990s, these investments will enable us to bring economic and employment opportunities to Delaware, rather than watch as other countries enjoy the new jobs that follow clean-energy investments.

We must continue to promote the environmental, cultural, and economic benefits of our treasured shoreline. This includes funding research initiatives by qualified experts and following up on their recommendations. Our area is especially prone to flooding, an issue that will only worsen along with the climate crisis. We must explore cost-effective ways to mitigate flooding and sea-level rise in our State.

We need not trade short-term economic gains for long-term economic and environmental prosperity. We should not ignore the public health and ecological benefits that accompany smart energy investments. We should embrace the truth that environmental protection and economic development can go hand-in-hand, and that achieving both is the best way to ensure long-term prosperity for Delaware.

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