While deployed to Fallujah, Iraq, with the Marine Corps infantry, former Representative Alex Cornell du Houx gained firsthand insight into how climate change, water security, and our safety and prosperity are inseparable. During a routine patrol on a sweltering hot day, a roadside bomb exploded and hit his HUMVEE. As the dust cleared and after they checked their limbs, they quickly caught the assailant as he tried to escape. Fortunately, this military-age man was not well trained, and most of the blast had missed the vehicle. After securing the area, they investigated and soon learned that he was a desperate farmer. There was a record-setting drought driven by climate change, and his crops had failed. Vulnerable, he had been turned into a terrorist, paid to attack Americans.

This experience motivated Alex to run for office, where he met fellow veterans who were elected with similar climate security experiences. At the Copenhagen UN climate negotiations, he met Caroline, New York Councilmember Dominic Frongillo, who brought together 1,000 elected officials to successfully ban fracking statewide in New York.  Together, with elected officials across the country, they founded EOPA to work with state and local policymakers to protect our people and the planet.

Over the years, we’ve sat down with U.S. Senators and Representatives on Capitol Hill to progress legislation that became law, met with White House officials and helped laws pass at the state and local level.

We have trained lawmakers in 45 state capitols, at national elected officials conferences and through our certificate program with the University of San Francisco. EOPA has organized over 3,000 of our peers to create and enact policies.