Larger Post Panamax ships are critical to securing America's position in a global market, and all our ports, including Jaxport, must be deep enough to handle them.

The exploration for oil and gas off our shores can play a role in making energy more affordable and accessible... However, effective safety measures must be in place, and exploration must be done in an environmentally sensitive manner that in no way interferes with our military.

I have had no concerns in the past and have none moving forward regarding the Navy's ability to effectively address any potential natural or man-made threat to Naval Station Mayport and any military asset located there, including any future nuclear aircraft carrier.

I think leadership is something you earn, more through actions than words.

Despite all the progress climate scientists have made in understanding the risks we run by loading the atmosphere with CO2, the world is still as addicted to fossil fuels as ever.

Let us build a 21st-century rural economy of cutting-edge companies and technologies that lead us to energy and food security. Such an investment will revitalize rural America, re-establish our moral leadership on climate security and eliminate our addiction to foreign oil.

I am always more interested in people than plants. Nature doesn't make gardens, people make gardens. And the story of a garden is always the story of a person.

Yet, despite our many advances, our environment is still threatened by a range of problems, including global climate change, energy dependence on unsustainable fossil fuels, and loss of biodiversity.