Dear Tomorrow,

I write this letter to you, my future children who aren’t even born yet, from the past, May 2016. I know nothing of your personalities, your looks, the types of people you will become, or things dear to your heart, but I do know that you are already near and dear to mine. I hope nothing but the best and brightest for my future little ones, which is why I am writing this letter to you today.

In the year 2016 there is a global emergency occurring and that has been happening since decades before. Greenhouse gas emissions, with significant undertones of climate change and endangerment to children’s health, is the problem at hand and it can be a bit of a sticky issue. Greenhouse gases are harmful gasses released into the atmosphere when humans burn fossil fuels, among other activities. Despite unshakable evidence, there are still skeptics on the issue, and unfortunately many of the skeptics are in positions of high political power, making reform difficult. Scientific data supports the idea that certain human activities contribute to the changing of the earth’s natural fluctuations and cycles, one major example being the burning of fossil fuels for energy by humans.

There are severe impacts of climate change, the most controversial being global warming. Harmful human activities have already began to cause earth’s atmosphere and oceans to warm significantly. This is important to daily human life because of the increased amount of intense natural disasters, sea level rise, loss of important species, disruption of farming practices, and of course the consequences to human health of having greenhouse gases and other man made pollutants in the air.

Hopefully by the time you are old enough to understand this letter, you will find it silly that some of the 2016 government still refuted such a worldwide problem. Hopefully you’ll also understand how greenhouse gas emissions touch every aspect of life from the price of groceries, to where it’s safe to buy a home, to your own health. My father and brother, your grandfather and uncle, both have asthma, which means it’s genetically feasible that you could have it too, what worries me is that air pollutants intensify respiratory illnesses like asthma. You can run from natural disasters and plan around sea level rise but there’s no getting around the air you have to breathe and the damage it could do to your body. This is why I am such an advocate for environmental policies that support your health!

Recently many nations in the world have come together to develop the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change that should be making great strides in the future, before this there were many other agreements, but they didn’t really have a big enough impact. While I am studying environmental issues heavily during my undergrad years in college, I cannot achieve change alone, no one can. We only have one earth, and I only have one set of future kids, so through my work I plan to do everything I can to make a better home for you and your families. I haven’t met you yet, but I already know you deserve a better tomorrow.

With love,
Mom
Symone Moore
VA Moms Clean Air Force