The climate crisis is an increasingly present and visible threat to our world and few know this better than Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington, who watched more than 600,000 acres burn in his state during just the beginning of the second-worst fire season on record. In this week’s Thought Leader Series, we share an op-ed written by Inslee for Rolling Stone magazine on why we can’t turn to pessimism in our efforts to reverse climate change.
Inslee writes, “We need a plan to stop these increasingly ferocious natural disasters from becoming uncontrollable. The situation demands that climate change be front and center in this plan – because it is the root and stem of the new challenges we face in disaster response.”
He also reminds us that wildfires are just one manifestation of climate change and ecosystems as a whole are beginning to feel the strain of a warmer climate.
However, Inslee urges us to remain optimistic in protecting the climate. We know that there are solutions to mitigating climate change and we have the advantage of green technology at our fingertips. “There is broad consensus on what we need to do to slow and turn back the effects of human-driven climate change: all hands on deck for global decarbonization that grows jobs and protects communities,” he writes.
A majority of Americans now support action on climate change and a job report from E2, a national nonpartisan group of business leaders and investors, shows that there are already more than 3 million clean energy jobs in the US today. Expanding our green energy investments will only increase these opportunities for economic growth in a sustainable system.
So how can we mobilize change? Vote. Inslee writes, “This is a battle that we can – and must – win, beginning with our votes in November.”
Read the full Thought Leader Series at the link below.
Image Source: RollingStone
