To the wonderful children of our family – Elayna, Julianna, and James –

I think you all know how active I’ve been on the issue of climate change.  It reflects my involvement on environment issues since I was a kid.  As an 11-year old in 1970, on the occasion of the first Earth Day, I had a poster of a sunset on my door at home that said “Let It Be” (a Beatles song at the time).

About 20 years ago, I became aware of the issue of “global warming,” now referred to as “climate change.”  Al Gore was vice president and talking a lot about the issue.  And then in 2010, out of frustration with our lack of national action on climate change, I wrote a short novel called “Fire in the Wind” that envisioned a future (in the year 2036) in which major climate change had set in. I actually modeled one of the characters (an environmental scientist) on your wonderful Mom.

Your Mom and I have done what we can to make our household climate-friendly.  We have a geothermal heating and cooling system, efficient home insulation and an electric car.  We welcome other ideas from you.

There is no issue more important to your future and your friends’ future than stemming climate change. If unchecked, climate change will disrupt all aspects of life. But if addressed, our future – your future — will be filled with marvelous improvements to our daily life, such as renewable energy, clean cars and incredibly efficient systems.  Solar panels will be everywhere.

Even as progress on climate change is slow, I remain optimistic that the future will be better, and that you and your generation will inherit from my generation an Earth that is not headed toward unsustainable warming.  The actions that we take as a family, as a state and country over the next ten years will have a big impact.

Dana Stein