Three things I really want you to know

My intention in writing at all is to transform your conception of the strengthening climate change beast, to inspire new action in the face of this collective emergency, and to do as much as I can in furthering a better future for life than the one we're racing towards.

And facts don't seem to do it much. If you were interested in facts you could Google some from more reputable sources than me.

My oldest son, almost 8, read us a book tonight before bed about a woman becoming weak in old age. I wondered where her grandkids were. Wouldn't they be around and give her something to smile about? When I'm that old, I want family and friends to be around. I want to enjoy connecting with them then as much as I can now.

And when I'm that old, the world will definitely be a different place. What kind of place is honestly, literally, up to you and me.

Three things I want you to know about climate change:

1. Climate change poses an immense threat to all of us.

We're on a course to cause persistent, consistent heat waves around the world (likely an average 4 degrees F increase by the second half of this century, at least). Sea level rise will displace the 44% of the world's population living on coasts, probably by the end of this century. Effects of changing weather patterns, already noticeable locally in superstorms, droughts, and flooding, will become exacerbated as more energy becomes available in the atmosphere to fuel it all. We need drinking water, and it will become more scarce; clean water is also needed for food, so it too will become more scarce and people will become more aggressive to attain these necessities.

And no one gets out. The wealthy can delay the impact on themselves through resource and location fortifications, but it's coming for all of us. Even if we cut off all fossil fuel use by 2050, it will be too late to avoid catastrophic warming.

2. We can cause a shift in this trajectory right now.

It's not magical thinking to get that we can actually alter this trajectory now. Clean energy technologies are available now. We can easily cut back on the quantity of energy we think we need. There's pleasure, fulfillment, enjoyment, and productivity available in living sustainably and respectfully with human and non-human life as a promise.

Notable engineers and scientists have crunched numbers and developed region-specific optimizations, and the necessary capital and subsequent economic benefit are both available.

3. Climate change is a huge opportunity.

A global crisis requiring global commitment and cooperation to solve. Wow. 

Climate change is an equalizer - everyone is impacted, black and white and rich and poor - and overcoming a large number of our social, visceral, ancestral, isolating, and ineffectual intolerances to each other and even ourselves will be a necessity for us to make it.

I want to make it. I want my kids to make it. I want to get old with my wife, have a garden, have grandkids over for the weekend, and sit in contentment and pride in my final years that yes, we pulled it off, we consciously caused humanity to take a new path and create a future that wasn't going to happen on its own - a future where all life is respected, honored, and given a chance at fulfillment.

Read and sign the Pledge to Mobilize: click here. Hit me with some feedback whether you sign it or not - let me know where you stand.