Bipartisan Leadership From Mark Udall and John McCain

McCain and Udall copyI want to compliment Sens. Mark Udall and John McCain for coming together in Estes Park, Colorado yesterday and pledging to work together in a bipartisan way to combat climate change.

Attending the event and seeing the dead pines surrounding us in Rocky Mountain National Park which were killed by a pine beetle outbreak intensified by climate change, I was encouraged by the commitment of these leaders from both sides of the aisle to leave a healthy world for the next generation.

As Sen. McCain said later at a hearing of the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks and was quoted in Proof is in the Park:  “The startling fact is you no longer need to journey to faraway places to experience climate change. Climate change is real. It’s occurring right now, and it’s in the U.S.”

Sen. McCain has pioneered efforts in the Senate to address climate change and Sen. Udall has a long record of advocacy for clean energy.  If Americans come together in the same way these leaders did yesterday, we can get energy and climate legislation this year that will provide us all with enhanced natural security, increased energy independence and economic opportunity.