John,

We missed a big opportunity.

And now Donald Trump is exploiting the idea of declaring a national climate emergency in order to... drill more oil.

In Congress, I introduced legislation in the House supported by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to declare a climate emergency and spent years trying to make it happen.

We worked tirelessly trying to get enough support for that legislation because it would have equipped Joe Biden to not only make more forceful political statements on the subject, but more importantly, it would have empowered him to take necessary, urgent actions.

We are in a climate emergency and have been, but it's not because we don't have enough sources of energy to make this country run.

We missed an opportunity for Joe Biden to get this done, but it's not too late for us to make the case to every city council, every county commission, and every state legislature out there.

Climate change is accelerating at an alarming pace, but we can beat the drum on this and shape public opinion if we flood our state and local governments, our civic groups, and our church and faith organizations with this message, and we can compel them to act.

So, let's seize this moment and bring it home to where we live. Mobilizing this grassroots support around a climate emergency will help fill the policy void and mobilize local support. This will make the difference as we regain control of Congress and ultimately, the White House.

Courage,

Earl