Dear Noah,

I’m sorry. I’m imagining you are living in very uncertain times. For those of us attuned to the natural world and are paying attention, things are not looking good. Climate scientists are telling us that there will be many challenges ahead for you and your children if humanity doesn’t pull together and change the way we power our world.

I think about climate change a lot.

I’m doing just about everything I can to fix the problem. I guess fix the problem probably aren’t the right words. Limit the damages may be more like it. I started volunteering with a relatively new non-profit working to address climate change called Citizens’ Climate Lobby. I’ve made personal choices to reduce my dependence on fossil fuels. I drive an electric car, I get my electricity from renewable energy sources, I cut down on the amount of meat I eat, I’ve even been to jail in non-violent civil disobedience against new fossil fuel projects. But I am only one person.

The actions society are taking to limit the damages are very slow. Half of Congress refuses to address the problem. Money has tainted our political process and the fossil fuel companies have enormous quantities of it. Money buys power and influence and there’s a lot of money yet to be made in fossil fuels. There are a few very wealthy individuals with power who want business as usual. To sum it up, the short-term greed of my generation is a major barrier for a stabile climate for you.

But this is why I volunteer with Citizens Climate Lobby. We are working to negate the power and influence of the fossil fuels industry by talking with our elected officials. We are building relationships with those who have influence. We are making connections with them to try to appeal to their compassionate side. We are reaching out to anyone and everyone we can, to build a movement to transform the way we power the world. To make sure we live in a way that will sustain our resources and preserve the incredible diversity of life that call this beautiful planet home.

I am working hard to make sure that the polluters who are dumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere can no longer do it without a cost imposed on them. Believe it or not, we are treating our atmosphere like an open sewer, dumping carbon pollution into it free of charge.

But carbon pollution is not free, someone pays. That someone should be the ones causing the problem, not you or your young ones. My mother taught me to clean up my own messes, and that’s what we will do.

All my love,
Your Great Uncle Jon