Finally, Mark Twain said "Everybody complains about the weather but nobody ever does anything about it." Well, when it comes to global warming and climate change, we’re doing something about it in New Mexico.
Energy Initiatives
I set tough standards to reduce greenhouse emissions. We’ve invested directly in energy efficiency. And no other state has done as much to promote renewable energy – with tax credits for using wind, solar, and biofuels … we’ve eliminated taxes on hybrid cars … and we’re requiring utility companies to start producing energy from renewable sources.
New Mexico has become the clean energy state. There’s no reason we can’t become the clean energy nation.
Every one of these accomplishments can be done at the national level.
But it’s not enough to just win the Congress back. We need someone who can win the White House back.
A Governor with Foreign Affairs Experience
And I know the usual rap on Governors – that we don’t know anything about foreign affairs. Well, maybe you can say that about Governors from Texas.
But not this Governor.
Last December, I was visited by a delegation of North Koreans seeking my advice before the disarmament talks. They wanted to know how in the world they’re supposed to work with an administration that thinks “axis of evil” is a bargaining position.
When I visited Darfur last month and negotiated a cease fire, I saw thousands of widows and fatherless children trying to escape the genocide … waiting in line in 100 degree heat for a month. They wanted to know why it was taking the United States so long to do something.
And the Middle East wants to know how we can expect to bring peace to the region while shutting Iran and Syria out of the process.
Time for U.S. Troops to Leave Iraq with Honor
The War in Iraq is not the disease. Iraq is a symptom. The disease is arrogance.
The next President must be able to repair the damage that’s been done to our country’s reputation over the last six years. It’s why experience in foreign affairs has never been more important.
But whatever you may think of a pre-emptive war grounded in the clouded reasoning of a vengeful administration and a misled Congress … the reality is, we have done in Iraq what said we would do.
We have rid the world of a brutal dictator. We have brought about free and fair elections three times over. The Iraqis now have a constitution, over 200,000 armed soldiers, and they have oil revenue.
It’s time for our troops to leave with honor.
When it comes to this president, I don’t know how someone can be so blind to the hurt and anguish in this country … and so deaf to the will of the people.
This is not presidential greatness. This is a great tragedy.
America is better than this.
A struggle for human rights is worthy of military intervention. A true threat to our country’s security is worthy of war.
But a struggle between a country’s warring factions, where both sides hate the United States, is not worthy of one more lost American life.
As someone who served in Congress for 14 years, I know the power they hold should they choose to wield it. The Congress passed a resolution authorizing war. They need to pass another that overturns that authorization … and brings our troops home by the end of this year.
U.S. Moral Obligations in Iraq War
You would think that when the Congress realized they were lied to, they would have done something about it. Well, they still can.
Once our troops are gone, we still have a role to play. We have a moral responsibility to bring the Sunni and Shia together in a national reconciliation conference. And we have a strategic interest in organizing a regional conference with all of Iraq’s neighbors, including Syria and Iran, to help stabilize Iraq.
But more than anything else, we have a moral obligation to those Americans who have laid down their lives.
Some say we cannot let their sacrifice be in vain. But you will never convince me that those slain patriots would have wanted a single additional life to be lost just to validate their own sacrifice.
Instead, the moral obligation is to honor their service by bringing their mission to a close. By ending the bloodshed … and finally letting the Iraqi people set their own course.
Those would be the principles of my presidency. And those would be the ideals I would seek.
Thank you, God bless you, God bless the Democratic Party, and God bless the United States.
