I want my three children to grow up in a world where the water is safe to drink, the air is safe to breathe, and the beauty of our natural heritage remains intact. We can achieve this only through making major investments in clean energy, which also provides more jobs, saves money and leads to a more stable economy.

My home state of Virginia, alas, has a long way to go, and that’s why Appalachian Voices and partners have launched the New Power for the Old Dominion campaign.

The Old Dominion is stuck on using dirty energy from fossil fuels like coal, which desecrates our mountains and pollutes our environment. Virginia lags far behind others in taking advantage of clean energy from wind, solar and efficiency. Consider a couple of facts:

• Virginia has a potential of at least 42000 megawatts of wind and solar energy. Dominion Virginia Power, which provides two-thirds of the state’s electricity, plans to develop less than 1 percent of that over the next 15 years
• Virginia is ranked 37th in the nation for energy efficiency.

Our kids deserve better. We all deserve better. The bold campaign that Appalachian Voices and the Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition recently launched will insist that the state’s utilities, regulators and lawmakers get serious about clean energy. New Power for the Old Dominion lays out a practical, affordable, and morally-imperative plan for Virginia to get on the 21st century clean energy bandwagon. Now.

If you live in Virginia, I invite you to speak up for our state’s future and sign the pledge for clean energy today. And please consider sharing this with your Virginia friends.

Together, we can bring new power to the Old Dominion.

For Virginia,