Friend,

When I first wanted to talk about climate change on the weather forecast, convincing my bosses at the TV station wasn't easy. In fact, I heard a lot of “hell, no” from management.

At the time -- well over a decade ago -- climate change was even more politicized than it is now. Most Republicans denied its existence entirely. That’s why the station’s leadership thought we would lose viewership if we discussed how climate change affects the weather.

But once we started talking about it, the opposite happened. Our audience actually grew because we were willing to broach a topic other stations were still shying away from.
 
I was one of the first TV meteorologists to talk about climate change on our broadcast.
Today, I’m proud to bring my climate communication skills to Washington as the first meteorologist in Congress since 1979. Yes, the topic is still politically polarized, but now most of the debate is around how to fix the problem and help folks affected by it rather than arguing whether or not it exists.

Still, we have work to do. This week’s historically bad air quality due to wildfire smoke reminded us of the real consequences of climate change. And Republicans were quick to remind us that they have no interest in moving on this issue!

By helping me win re-election, you’d be ensuring IL-17 is represented by a trusted communicator on this critical issue. So I have to ask – will you chip in a $3 contribution?
 

Donate

I’m grateful for your support, friend.

– Eric

P.S. – One more thing: In case you missed it, I recently discussed my experience talking about climate change on TV (and more) with E&E News. You can read the full article here.