Bianca Dragone

Dear President Obama,

I would like to congratulate you on your November fourth victory. Yet as you said in your inspiring election speech, “the victory alone is not the change we seek; it is the chance for us to make that change.” Chiefly I would like to see an alteration in the country’s attitude towards climate change. The United States is currently the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases and without a strong effort to change now, our planet will remain, as you said, in “peril.” Mr. President, you have the ability to inspire the change needed to save our planet. I ask you to take decisive action and employ a portfolio of different solutions to this problem of global warming.

America has the technology and natural resources to move away from fossil fuel dependence. I urge you to allocate more of our effort and finances towards utilizing renewable energy sources. Solar power is a prime example of an alternative energy source that has the potential to be widely employed. Solar panels are relatively simple to install anywhere that receives sunlight; it is only a matter of taking the time and the money to implement this on a large scale. Wind farms and hydropower plants, biofuels, and geothermal energy production are all options that have been put into practice by other nations with great success. America could create clean energy cheaply if we seize the opportunity to create these plants as soon as possible so the payback time is relatively short. Also, consider putting money into researching improvements on carbon sequestration and capture and geoengineering methods to hinder the effects of global warming.

I would also like to see legislation passed to enforce more efficient energy use and conservation. Offer incentives, such as subsidies and tax breaks to organizations and individuals that choose to “build green.” If you must change this initial sacrifice and reward pattern and mandate that energy efficient building standards must be upheld or that cars cannot be produced with low gas mileages. It is the authority of the United States’ government that is needed to enact our nation’s initial steps towards living in a more climate-friendly manner.

The effects of climate change are being felt all across the nation, whether it is in the north, where sporadic snowfall and sixty-degree days are experienced in November, or the south, which has been devastated by uncommonly strong natural disasters. I feel blessed to be able to look out my window over the clear New England landscape and hear the sounds of birds chirping every morning. If America continues to do business as usual, it may not be long before I am unable to open my window due to unbearably poor air quality. America needs to take steps away from its current path before the consequences of its actions become irreversible. Please, Mr. President, make one of your first political actions in the white house be part of the movement against global warming.

Sincerely, Bianca Dragone.