Dear President,

I understand that political issues are at the forefront of your campaign, and while it is vastly important that they are dealt with both domestically and abroad, I ask that you do not lose sight of the environmental problems that have plagued the world for a long time now. I understand that it is a long and difficult process, but with the resources available to you, I’m sure you could greatly improve the state of our natural world.

One step you could take is enforcing anti-littering and anti-pollution laws. Cracking down on these would greatly reduce the amount of waste that works its way into nature. One especially concerning area is the ocean, which is constantly being filled with plastic garbage. Eliminating this trash would improve the health of the aquatic ecosystems and in turn the rest of the world. Creating marine preserves via executive order would help ocean creatures adjust to and combat the effects of climate change by protecting their environment from mineral exploration, commercial fishing, and energy production.

You could also provide more funding to environmental agencies and government departments that work to change the nation’s energy consumption, protect wildlife, and undo damage to the environment. This would allow them to work faster and tackle larger scale projects. If the Department of Energy is provided the funding it annually requests, its energy research program could new technology that would decrease our dependence on coal and oil. Federal funding allows the U.S. Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife, and the Bureau of Land Management, as well as state agencies, to manage wildlife and protect endangered species.

Lastly, you could encourage the American people to go green. Advocating for the use of alternative energies aside from fossil fuels will reduce CO2 emissions and greatly improve the health of the atmosphere and of all living things. Energy waste within the federal government itself can be reduced through executive order, and that commitment to preserving energy would lead the nation by example. Clean energy and climate change legislation, such as the Farm Bill, the Wetlands Reserve Program, and the Wildlife Habitat Incentive, once moved through Congress, provide private landowners throughout the U.S. an opportunity to aid the national effort in their own backyards.