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The most important step you can take for the climate is to exercise your vote. We get the opportunity to do this at a local, state and national level during primary, special, and general elections.  We all need to decide for ourselves how important the climate issue will be in our future and how important it is that we take the right actions now. We need to elect people at all levels who understand this and who are willing to work together to meet this challenge. They will need crisis management and strategic planning skills and not just respond with too little, too late.

Climate, like Covid-19, has a huge impact on our economic health, public health, and national security. One of the biggest impacts will be on our agricultural sector which will impact us all on a daily and seasonal basis. Agriculture also offers a key opportunity to manage/slow down climate warming by sequestering carbon. We need to be doing this and many other things now. So it is key to have our politician’s support and leadership on climate issues at all levels at all times. They need to be looking at all the decisions they make through a climate lens.

At the recent World Economic Forum, the 750 delegates from all around the world said that not controlling the warming of the planet is the greatest danger we face as a civilization. This is clearly not just a Democrat or Republican issue. Everyone needs to be part of the solution and not just continue kicking the ball down the field until it is too late and future generations have few choices except to suffer.

So I ask you to start looking at everything you do through a climate lens as well. Vote for those leaders with the strongest climate commitments. Support them during the race and then stay with them as closely as you can, celebrating the wins and encouraging continuous attention. Always clap and send letters of support when they mention the climate challenges and solutions. We’ve got to keep this issue front and center. The climate crisis can only be solved by electing the right people and implementing the right plan. It is complicated because as our climate moves out of the Goldilocks zone that we have all evolved within, the changes will impact everything we do.

Make sure you and your friends are registered and then make sure you vote.