When Members of Congress returned to Washington DC from their summer break, they were met with ads at Union Station highlighting the need for investment in innovation to address the climate crisis.

Featuring images of the moon landing and the headline “Investment in Innovation Can Do Amazing Things,” the ads remind Members of Congress that we have come together as a nation and met big challenges in the past by investing in innovation. 

The parallels are clear.

When President Kennedy in 1962 launched the campaign to put men on the moon, he highlighted the innovation that would be required. “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.”

Now, our challenge is not the space race but a race against time. There is overwhelming consensus in the scientific community that we must move to a 100% clean economy by 2050 to avert the worst effects of climate change. This race against time is one that we must win, and innovation will be a part of how we succeed.

Moving to a 100% clean economy will not be easy, but we cannot afford to wait to get started. With voters pressing their representatives in Congress to take action to address the climate crisis, investment in innovative approaches must be part of the solution.