In countries where there are real civil wars, people go through a lot, and we should be willing to go through a lot to help them.

People in red states and blue states can agree that if we can fight pollution and poverty at the same time, letting people work their way out of poverty without undermining community health, we have a moral obligation to do so.

Even if we can solve the carbon problem for coal, it is still a non-renewable resource. At some point, coal supplies will drop.

We should stop calling ourselves environmentalists - and just call ourselves patriots.

To green our country, regular people will have to put on hard hats and work boots, roll up their sleeves - and get to work.

The surest path to safe streets and peaceful communities is not more police and prisons, but ecologically sounds economic development. And that same path can lift us to a new, green economy - one with the power to lift people out of poverty while respecting and repairing the environment.

I'm the first one in my family born with all my rights. I'm a ninth generation American.