MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and members of the Keystone Club, Torch Club and Smart Girls, attended a Youth Leadership Luncheon to discuss all the good things done toward saving energy aboard the base and to award winners of a recent energy awareness poster contest at the Paradise Point Officers’ Club, aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Oct. 21.
“(Judging the poster contest) was very difficult,” said Col. Daniel J. Lecce, commanding officer of MCB Camp Lejeune, while addressing the youth. “We spent a lot of time looking over the posters because there was so much great work done on them. What you did here was fantastic. A lot of what you wrote was really smart and wise about recycling and saving energy. It was impressive. Everything you’re all doing in the Keystone, Torch and Smart Girls Club are tremendous.”
Navy Capt. Craig Fulton, director of Installations and Environment, Marine Corps Installations - East, quizzed the students on questions such as, “What month is it and what are we celebrating?”, “Why is saving energy important?” and “How do we produce our energy?”
“Right now, we get most of our energy from burning oil,” said Fulton. “We have to pump oil out of the ground or we have to burn coal. We’re running out of this and natural gas. We’re discovering new deposits for them, but eventually, we’re going to run out.”
Fulton added that the children are going to be around on the planet long enough to solve the energy issues facing the world.
“When the oil and natural gases are gone, how are we going to drive our cars or heat up our houses?” Fulton asked. “How many of you plan on being a scientist? You all are going to have to think up new ways to make electricity and new ways to drive our cars. Any of you want to be a writer? You all are going to have to explain to the rest of the world why you need to save energy. Who’s going to be an artist? We need you to think of creative ways to convince people to save energy.”
Fulton let the children know that they were all a big part of what is going to change the world and lead the effort to save energy.
“You all know what to do,” said Fulton. “You just need to get your family and friends to do it. When you grow up, you need to become leaders in the movement and think of new scientific ways to produce electricity or write books and articles or design some innovative way to convince people to walk staircases instead of the escalators or ride bikes instead of drive. It’s up to you all to be the leaders of tomorrow and save the planet and keep our way of life as it is now or improve it.”