Dominion VP Donald Raikes recently spoke at the DUG East conference, a shale gas industry event in Pittsburgh, urging fossil fuels energy officials to be aware of environmental groups and make sure they have a seat at the table when it comes to climate change policy, according to Nation of Change.

Raikes warned industry officials that they’re not doing themselves or the industry as a whole any favors by denying that it affects the environment, touching on climate change denial.

“Regardless of how we feel about the term ‘climate change,’ the one thing I hope we all agree on is that each of us individually, as companies, impact the environment,” he said. “And it is our responsibility to do everything we can to make sure that we can be respectful in terms of that impact.”

“The second thing I’ll tell you that I think is very critical when we look at these issues and communication is this: We can’t sit on the sidelines and be climate deniers. We can’t, because we disagree with what they’re saying, we can’t stick our head in the sand,” he added. “We have to be a player at the table or this policy will be set without us.”

Learn more: Nation of Change > ‘We can’t sit on the sidelines and be climate deniers,’ Dominion VP warns natural gas industry