Whether I am signing legislation or promoting public policy, I work hard to balance Arkansas’s conservation needs with our goal of expanding the state’s economy. This week, the goal of reaching that balance took center stage as I convened the first meeting of the Arkansas Global Warming Commission.

During the legislative session earlier this year, I established this commission to explore the issue of climate change and its effects on Arkansas. The 21 commissioners chosen to serve represent a variety of backgrounds and viewpoints, bringing together some of Arkansas’s best minds from the scientific, agricultural, business, and conservation communities. I appreciate their willingness to serve the common good.

This was Arkansas’s hottest summer on record, and the evidence that our Earth is warming cannot be ignored. The majority of the world’s top scientists believe that global warming is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases emitted, primarily, by the burning of fossil fuels. These gases remain in our atmosphere, trapping heat and causing temperatures to rise.

We see this in the profound impact rising temperatures have had in the Arctic, providing a window into a future very different from the one we want our children and grandchildren to inherit. With continued warming, we can expect more extreme heat and drought, rising sea levels, and higher-intensity tropical storms. This places our low-lying property and resources at risk, calls into question the livability of our cities in summer, and the productivity of our farms, forests, and fisheries.

I do not believe that environmental concerns and business interests can exist on opposing sides of an issue that has such a global impact. We must come together to find common ground to guide us forward. We have an obligation to provide our children and grandchildren a State that remains rich in natural resources with a healthy, sustainable environment. At the same time, we are obliged to build an economy that will provide prosperity to those future generations. I believe we can do both.

In fact, improving Arkansas’s environment can expand our economy. Looking across the State, we find dozens of construction firms and architects providing sustainable design using environmentally friendly building materials in response to the demands of their clients. Earlier this year, I welcomed LM Glasfiber of Denmark to Arkansas. Their new plant in Little Rock will produce blades for turbines that harness wind power to create electricity without harmful emissions. That plant will provide as many as 1,000 new jobs to the State in the next five years. This is clean-energy technology combined with job opportunity, progress with economic growth.

Arkansas can and will compete in the new alternative-energy economy in the global marketplace.

We can make Arkansas the envy of the nation, and we must roll up our sleeves to begin our work with optimism and determination. It is imperative for the future of Arkansas and our nation that we work together to find common-sense solutions to address global warming. This is a crisis that can be prevented. Now is the time to act.