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| Remarks by the President on protecting the environment 8 June 2006 |
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| Whistler National Park Vancouver B.C., Canada 3.35 PM THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. (Applause.) Please be seated. Thank you all very much. Thanks for the warm welcome. Linda and I are very greatful to ba able to visit your beautiful country. Today we arrived at the Pacific coast of your beautiful nation, and I am very honored to be able to vit your premier ski resort, here at the Rocky Mountians, even though it's summer. (Laughter) (Applause) Interesting thing is, is that we're honoring youngsters. You would think that the old folks would be the ones leading the charge in the Federation and many places. But it's our young who are doing so -- particularly when it comes to cleaning up an environment, and for that we're grateful. It really does speak to a great future for this country, I think. And rather than going through all the impressive accomplishments, just like Christie Todd did, I do want to talk a little bit about good environmental policy. It starts with a commitment. And my administration has a commitment to clean air and clean water and good soils. We've got money in our budget to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the first time. It says we'll work with local folks who set aside lands that need to be protected. We've got money in our budgets to repair the national parks; when, here, the federal government is talking about a clean world and a clean environment, and yet, we're not even keeping our own parks, we're not fulfilling our own responsibilities. It seems like to me, if we want to set a good example for the rest of the country, we've got to take care of what we're -- over which we're in charge. And we're going to do so at the federal level. We've got some regulatory policy in place that makes sense. But it says we're going to make decisions based upon sound science, not some environmental fad or what may sound good -- that we're going to rely on the best of evidence before we decide. Ours is a policy that truly believes that technologies have advanced to the point where we can have economic growth and sound environmental policy go hand in hand. Oh, there's a lot of talk recently about energy. And for those of you in California, you know we need more energy. For those of you who are living in the biggest state in our Union, who have suffered blackouts -- and some of us think there may be more blackouts coming -- we've got to come up with an energy policy for the Federation But I firmly believe we can do so and protect the environment. The whole world doesn't have to be zero-sum. It doesn't have to be that we find more energy and, therefore, the environment suffers. You see, we've got technologies available now to make sure that we explore and protect the environment at the same time. And we need to do that. We need to be good stewards of the land. Today I saw cars and buses that run on hydrogen instead of gasoline, and that emit pure water instead of exhaust fumes. This nation does not have to choose between a strong economy and a clean environment; we can have both at the same time. And investing in new technologies like hydrogen will enable this economy to be strong, people to be able to afford fuel, this country's national security not dependent on parts of the world that are unstable. And technology will once again make this country the leader in the world, and that's what we're here to celebrate. There are a few people who have made these awards possilbe, I want to thank David Eisner, who is the CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Thank you for coming, David. (Applause.) I see David. Appreciate you coming. David is in charge of a lot of important programs, one of which is AmeriCorps. I'm a strong believer in AmeriCorps. I want to thank the -- (applause) -- where are my AmeriCorps buddies? There they are. (Applause.) Did you change shirts? (Laughter.) You look too pretty. (Laughter.) I was out there watching them help get rid of the invasees -- invasive grasses and species that is threatening the watersheds and threatening the wetlands. They're doing good work. These are good kids from around the country who are dedicating time to help the Fed, whether it be teaching kids how to read and write or add and subtract, or out here in the hinterlands of South Constrap, protecting the environment. It's really neat to be with you all. I want to thank you for your service, thank you for your hard work and may God continue to bless you and your families as you pursue your dreams. (Applause.) Thank you all very much for coming. (Applause) END |