Climate change is real.  It is caused by humans.  It is an existential threat to the plant and the future of human society.  This has been known for some time now but the resistance to change, the resistance to accepting reality, has stopped our nation's efforts to address the crisis of our time.
           
Accepting this reality and recognizing the opportunity to create new solutions, drive new innovations, and create whole new industries and jobs for the next generation is the effort we must undertake.  Because not only has this denial created huge environmental problems, it has also fundamentally threatened our economic future. 

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While government should maintain limited roles in the delivery of solutions, government is a pillar of creating frameworks that drive and administer shared community values.  It is the mechanism that each community uses to create a shared journey into the future.

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As we push into this next decade, every level of government will need to reimagine its role in helping adapt to the results of climate change.  Whether creating local or regional Climate Action Plans to ensure that goals are established and performance measured and understood, implementing Ecodistricts to create shared structures to drive innovation, or developing local carbon budgets to build carbon reduction targets into local and state budgets, governments must perform their role of protecting the long-term health of our communities, and leaders at every level of government must rise to the challenge and be champions for constant innovation for the future.

We have a responsibility to build a more resilient and sustainable economy and environment, and every level of government has a role to play in stepping forward to provide solutions.

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Having worked on financing major infrastructure initiatives while working in the capital markets, Andrew firmly believes that the free markets will drive the most innovative and robust solutions to the climate crisis, but it can only do so when every level of government fully recognizes that the crisis is real, the actions are necessary, the innovation is possible, and the leadership is in place.

 

The effort to mitigate the worst possible outcomes for our planet belongs to each of us, each person, family, community, and business, to engage and do their parts but it takes decisive leadership to move forward and show the way.