Teresa Sue Bratton for Congress

Our Moment, Our Movement

Listening to the speeches at my party’s National Convention this week, I am reminded of just how thrilling it is to be running for office as a Democrat this year.  Any political campaign is exciting, but to appear on the Democratic ticket at this historic moment in history adds another dimension of significance.  Having only served one term in the US Senate, Barack Obama has already changed the face of American politics by bringing more people into the process.  Now, he has brought Joe Biden into the campaign, a man who has spent 36 years working to change Washington from within.  Biden’s working-class background and extensive foreign policy experience adds magnitude to our movement for change.

The Democratic Party has always stood for the ideal of expanding democracy and giving all Americans the power to have a say in the policy decisions that affect their lives every day, but seven years of ineffective government at the hands of Republicans has bred disillusionment.  Obama and Biden are reminding Americans of our country’s highest ideals and painting a picture of a safe and prosperous future, giving us something to strive for.  It is my fervent hope that the voting public will be awakened and will turn out in droves to bring new leadership to all levels of government.  I would be honored to be part of such a wave of renewed energy as we all come together to face our common challenges.  I hope to end up on Thursday night with a refreshed sense of purpose for my campaign and the motivation to keep on sharing my forward-looking vision with Sixth District voters as the campaign enters the homestretch.

My Plan for Energy Security

With the price of gas hovering just below $4.00 per gallon and the effects of global climate change becoming more visible, energy is the hot topic in Washington and at kitchen tables, coffee shops and other gathering places across the country. Republicans in Congress are calling for expanded offshore oil drilling, and many Democrats want to have oil companies drill in areas already under lease, mainly in Alaska. Even if new domestic drilling began today, the additional oil would not hit the market until around 2020, and it would constitute barely a drop in the bucket of our current consumption. America has come to a fork in the road. One path will lead to despoiled landscapes and more oil rigs offshore, leaving our waters vulnerable to pollution and our entire economy vulnerable to hurricanes, which are likely to increase in number and strength as ocean temperatures rise. Even with all this, America would still be partially dependent on imported oil, primarily from volatile parts of the world where the money we pay for gas, electricity, and other commodities props up authoritarian regimes, giving them no incentive to make life better for their citizens. The other path would make us independent, not just from reliance on foreign powers, but also from petroleum itself, of which there is a very limited supply in the world. This is the path towards which I will help to steer us if elected to Congress.

Residents of the Sixth District are clamoring for relief from high prices for gas, as well as food and other commodities transported by carriers that are passing on their increased fuel costs to consumers. Yet we are also suffering from a lack of good-paying jobs now that the textile and furniture industries have left the country and farmers are coping with the same high fuel prices as well as the ongoing effects of drought. I have a plan that would begin to remedy this situation from both ends: providing less expensive energy and creating good jobs in the district. I will work to ramp up federal investment in energy alternatives: not just solar, wind and biofuels, but also the cheapest and most overlooked energy source, namely conservation. With the right policies in place, new industries will begin to flourish that will develop clean, renewable energy sources and generate new technologies and techniques to help people get the most bang for the buck through increased efficiency. These industries will put the Sixth District, and the rest of the country, back to work on a new Apollo project, building a secure and prosperous America for the new century.

The technology and the ready workforce exist, but the political will to move us forward is sorely lacking. The Sixth District’s current representative has missed the boat numerous times, stubbornly clinging to his party’s zeal for more drilling while failing to support real 21st-century solutions in all but the most tokenistic manner. The failure of current policy is becoming clearer by the day to North Carolinians who are feeling it in their pocketbooks. It’s time for a change in Washington. We have an opportunity to chart a new course this November by electing new leadership, and I stand ready to contribute my knowledge and passion for public service to one of the most pressing challenges of our time.

Welcome

My name is Teresa Sue Bratton and I am running for Congress. Welcome to my blog.