Teresa Heinz Kerry: On Obama and the oft-ignored issue of environmental justice

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Fri Feb-01-08 05:27 PM
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Teresa Heinz Kerry: On Obama and the oft-ignored issue of environmental justice

When John and I were researching our book, This Moment on Earth, we spoke with hundreds of people across the country who are forming the modern core of today’s environmentalism. One of these was Cheryl Osimo, of the Silent Spring Institute (a non-profit scientific research organization in Massachusetts dedicated to identifying the links between the environment and women's health, especially breast cancer).

Cheryl became an environmental activist for a very personal reason: she was diagnosed with breast cancer and she started to look for answers. Their ground-breaking work found a link between estrogen-mimicking compounds in pesticides and higher incidences of breast cancer.

I’ve worked on environmental issues for over 25 years, and I’ve learned time and again about the nexus between our environmental crisis and our own health. From the warming of our planet to the toxic chemicals in our homes, the state of our environment is affecting us and our health more and more every day.

So when I was thinking about which Presidential candidate I would support, I knew I could only choose someone I believed would bring about the change we need in our national policy on environmental issues.

I know I found that candidate in Barack Obama.

I support his environmental policies. I know a bit about what is required to bring about change. There a lot of good people who care about environmental issues but who do not have the transformative quality or the capacity to break the barriers currently facing this nation. Barack Obama does.

I’ve looked at his record, and I’ve observed his career, and he has a leadership ability that is rare in public life. He is, in many ways, a lot like my husband. He’s a leader who listens, and a listener who unites.

At this critical moment for the Earth, we absolutely need someone who can fundamentally change the rules of the game to make new possibilities out of the old stalemates, to bring together the many in order to challenge the few.

The crisis of our environment, the crisis of our health -- these can’t wait any longer. We need broad, systemic change, and Barack Obama can achieve it. He can reshape our environmental debate, and he can bring about the new policies we need.

Barack Obama has the highest lifetime rating from the League of Conservation of anyone in the Presidential field. He worked with my husband on the landmark legislation to begin to increase fuel efficiency in our cars and trucks and revolutionize the way America drives. I was impressed with his courage and candor when he went to Detroit to tell the automakers, to their faces, that they needed to do better; Barack knows when to work with people, and when to challenge them.

Science is personal to me, like Barack. Barack is firmly dedicated to restoring scientific integrity to the White House. As the Silent Spring Institute has found in the link between breast cancer and toxins in our environment, the scientific community has made great advances in understanding the really large amount of toxins that are part of our everyday lives.

But the complete disregard for science by our current administration has not only twisted our environmental policy, but it has also held back the scientific community’s efforts to get a better handle on the causes and solutions of our environmental crises. Barack Obama is committed to reversing this trend and turning the full weight of our country’s scientific community toward this cause.

Barack’s background as a community organizer, working among the poorest of our nation, has led him to another aspect of environmentalism that is often ignored, but is so important to me: environmental justice. John and I wrote about this issue in This Moment on Earth, and we saw the effects of the environmental degradation in some of our country’s most vulnerable neighborhoods.

Barack will bring the lessons and experience of his days going door to door in some those vulnerable neighborhoods, and he will work hard to correct these inequities. I believe this because Barack is a man of action, he wants results. He understands how communities try to cope and survive and that knowledge is paramount to success.

Barack Obama has the wisdom of experience and the knowledge from scientific inquiry to bring a deep understanding of our environmental challenges to his role as President.

With that outlook, Barack Obama knows the problems we face and the solutions we must adopt. His plan to deal with climate change incorporates the best science in demanding an 80% reduction of greenhouse gases by 2050, and it works on the basis of "polluter pays," where polluters pay based on the amount of pollution they emit. And he’ll reinvest $150 billion in developing clean, affordable energy in the United States.

America needs a President who will take the lead on environmental protection. We have waited too long for a new direction – we need to finally begin moving forward – and I believe that by working to elect Barack Obama, we can take a giant step forward in our quest for a cleaner, safer environment.

I hope you’ll join me in supporting Barack Obama for President.

Thank you,

Teresa