Quote

We must guard against the overreaching hand of big government trying to take away our freedom. And we must always protect the environment in a manner consistent with our values.

I am working to make sure we don't only protect the environment, we also improve governance.

Environmental policy must strike a balance between the earth's best interests and our citizen's pressing needs.

With today's mass media obsession, it's good to be able to raise awareness about our environment.

Even the government understands that the environmental challenge is so big that no single agency can handle it. It needs collaboration among all the stakeholders - companies, governments, NGOs and the public. Public accountability will be the ultimate driving force.

Local innovation and initiative can help us better understand how to protect our environment.

We must conserve our environment and pass it on to our children in as good or better condition than it was passed to us.

Let me start by emphasizing that I am open to efforts to expedite environmental procedures for true emergencies or in other clear cases where current laws are needlessly burdensome.

I've always been a strong supporter of environmental protection and initiatives in that area. But I'm willing to set priorities. If we have to make reductions in one place, we'll have to-in order to increase another place, I'm willing to do that.

I think today we recognize that economic activity needs to search for ways to protect the environment.