Businesses and consumers can make headway. But we can't do everything.
Government: put a price on carbon emissions. Unlike this pandemic, climate change hopefully won't require grotesque emergency bailouts that our children will have to figure out how to pay for. Not if everybody pays a little bit right now to invest in the low-carbon future we so desperately need.
Regulate pollution. Stop dismantling the bureaus designed to do so. Amidst the chaos of pandemic, the Trump administration has quietly loosened clean air regulations, rolled back auto emission rules, and weakened toxic metal controls. Using economic crunch as an excuse to deregulate is robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Unite your citizens around science. Shout it from the White House rooftop: like this pandemic, climate change is real and we need to do something about it now. Unlike this pandemic, climate change is better understood and has more dire consequences.
And for the love of God, stop polarizing us.
Both sides of the aisle do it. The President thrives on it. And they do it because it gets them elected, and re-elected. Screw that. We're all in this together. If there's one thing cancerous to our union, it is a government run by people who are happy to drive a wedge through their electorate to ensure their own job security. There is a shitload of common ground out there, including and not limited to the planet that we're standing on.
Hey, that's where we come in again!
There's an election coming up. Register to vote now, or check your voter registration status.
We must elect politicians who listen to scientists, put forth science-based policy, and build coalitions to execute them. Like this pandemic, science is telling us where climate change is coming from, how it will get worse, and what we must do to adapt and survive it.
Vote for politicians who listen to scientists and bring people together to solve problems.
And even if your favorite horse isn't in the race in November, vote. Even if you're having a hard time deciding which candidate you like less, vote.
Hold your nose, suck it up, and vote.
Humans are resilient and ingenuitive. We can predict, plan for, and adapt to all manners of threats, as long as we let experts shape our decision-making. When we all agree on a problem, we can solve it.