Political action on climate change in the United States is impossible. That’s what I’ve heard a lot from people since joining EDF Action as director of grassroots engagement. But I’ve heard things called politically impossible before, and I think the time is right for bold and ambitious climate action.
Before joining EDF Action, I spent twenty years working for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) equality. I remember how political pundits said that passing an LGBT-inclusive federal hate crimes law was impossible! Repealing the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law that prohibited military service by openly lesbian, gay, and bisexual service members was impossible! And marriage equality was certainly, absolutely impossible! And yet, in 2019 our politics and the lives of LGBTQ people are forever changed. We were able to achieve the impossible by working across the aisle in a bipartisan fashion to secure these critical protections.
The lesson I take from this is that things the pundits deem impossible are often merely difficult. Building strong and enduring majorities for climate action in Congress and state legislatures will surely be difficult, but I am heartened by my experiences from the past twelve years organizing at the Human Rights Campaign and before that in the Massachusetts marriage equality campaign. I saw first-hand what we were able to accomplish when supporters of equality set to engaging with, educating, mobilizing, and ultimately changing their family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and lawmakers.
I’m excited to join the EDF Action team because there’s never been a more urgent need to mobilize support for climate action. The science is clear. We must take bold and ambitious action if we want to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis. Pushing for that kind of transformative environmental action is exactly what EDF Action is all about.
To make the kind of big changes we need, we need everyone – from coast to coast – involved, and taking action. You, me, big business, Congress, state lawmakers… you get it: Everyone! How do we accomplish this? By building a strong volunteer force and mobilizing pro-environment voters and activists to take action so we can elect pro-environment candidates and make progress on critical climate campaigns in both Congress and state legislatures around the country.
I am optimistic. Working together and working toward our American ideals, we have achieved great things time and again, often against considerable odds. I know that there are hundreds and thousands of EDF Action members (and future members) ready to take action, ready to engage their family, friends, and neighbors, ready to press lawmakers for change, and ready to support pro-environment candidates.
Are you ready?
Join EDF Action today. You don’t have to contribute to become a member – you can join today by using our online form to contact your members of Congress about the urgent need to move to a 100 percent clean economy!
