Dem U.S. Senate candidate Tom Nelson, while demanding Enbridge stop constructing its Line 5 oil pipeline, said today his generation needs to address climate change now to leave future generations a livable world.

The 46-year-old Outagamie County executive at a Madison press conference in Tenney Park called on fellow Gen-Xers to take what he called a tough stand against the oil industry to protect the environment. Nelson said his generation must work to limit the climate change problem, and stopping Enbridge from piping tar sand oil through Wisconsin will help.

“That stuff belongs in the ground,” he said. “And so if there are pipelines coming from Canada, coming from the tar sands and anywhere else, we have to stop that.”

Nelson added while that may be difficult, lawmakers need to address climate change now because nothing else matters if the Earth can’t sustain human life in the future.

“If we don’t have a globe, all those other issues, whether it’s Medicare for all, whether it’s labor laws; that stuff doesn’t matter,” he said.

Nelson also praised the renewable energy advocacy group Wisconsin Sunrise Movement for endorsing him for the U.S. Senate. The group is comprised of UW-Madison students.

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