Climate change and environmental harm are grave threats to our health, economy, and security. Record droughts, heat waves, wildfires, coastal flooding, ocean acidification, and storms are costing lives and hundreds of billions of dollars in damages in our communities.

The federal government’s National Climate Assessment predicts economic losses will exceed the GDP of many states, and our military is responding to climate change as a key threat to national security.

According to the United Nations, we only have 11 and a half years left before extreme weather conditions become the norm and millions will die across the globe. Scarcity of resources and political instability will start conflicts. These wars will add to the starvation. We are at a tipping point.

We need to take action. We need leadership.

With federal action stalled, state and local levels must lay groundwork for national climate policy. Yet very few state and local officials are prioritizing climate change; not enough elected officials are aware of the crisis’s severity, imperative action to solve it, and how their voices can turn the tide.