Dear Future President,

We really need to talk. 

Let's Imagine we are watching a train wreck in slow motion and we are fully capable of preventing it from happening, but instead we argue if the train even exists. 

Global sea levels and temperatures are rising. Millions of species face extinction. An ice free Arctic by 2040.  This is the train wreck if we do not act quickly. 

We are a country of deniers. We deny the existence of our problems either out of pure ignorance, indifference, or momentary gain. According to The Hill, 30% of Americans do not believe that climate change is happening and even more alarming is over 1/3rd of our current congress are climate change deniers. This has a profound effect on public policy surrounding the issue of climate change. The United States of America is the only major superpower that has this alarming level of climate change deniers serving in government. Even nations we often separate ourselves from such as China and Russia in regards to our 'upright' ideals and their 'backwards' ideals fully accept the need for profound environmental policy reform. Nearly every time we go to a UN environmental conference in recent years we seem to reach an agreement to solve climate change, but we along with other nations are not held accountable. By having so many deniers in our own government, how can we expect to create any significant change if they don't care or even recognize the problem even exists. They are the weavers of public policy that are promoting money-interest for their private oil and fossil fuel friends. They don't accept or care until the problem hits them personally, and by that time it will be too late. My biggest fear about our future is how little climate change is being discussed, especially in the 2016 presidential election. It is extremely troubling when a major party candidate can get far being a climate change denier. My hope is that you are a president that is fully committed to addressing and solving this inevitable disaster. 

Unfortunately, solving climate change is complex and may be unappealing for a candidate to talk about during an election, but a conversation is necessary. We cannot keep denying a scientific truth. As former vice president Al Gore wittily stated, "Here is the truth: The Earth is round; Saddam Hussein did not attack us on 9/11; Elvis is dead; Obama was born in the United States; and the climate crisis is real." We cannot begin solving the issue if we don't think the issue even exists. Please do not let the difficulty stop you. Let's not compromise with the energy lobby and start accepting and "reducing" our impact on our climate, we need to "innovate to zero" as articulated by Bill Gates at a 2010 TED talk. 

Climate change is not a partisan issue, it is a human issue.

Help lead us into a future that is still inhabited by humans.

Sincerely,

Kai S.