Hi there,

When I woke up today, I thought I was in a nightmare. I walked outside, like so many of you, and saw the red sky. “It this real or is this a nightmare?” But here is the harsh truth: this is the future of our entire planet unless we act now. And yet the city of Berkeley still wants to wait 30 years to reach carbon neutrality.

Overnight, wildfires in California sent ash and smoke billowing into the stratosphere, 40,000 feet into the air. A strong wind pushed the smoke into the Bay Area, and it blocked out the sun. Our blue-green planet is turning red. 

There are many reasons for these historic wildfires. We have seen record temperatures in the Bay Area, including overnight temperatures that are hitting all time records. (San Francisco saw a minimum temperature 7 degrees higher than the prior historic record.) There are now 149 million dead trees in California providing the kindling for a fire. And droughts are becoming an annual pattern, rather than an occasional crisis, leaving our entire ecosystem parched

But these unprecedented fires are not an accident. They are the direct result of the policies of our government over the last 50 years. Instead of fighting fossil fuels and factory farms, our politicians have been supporting them. Instead of taking action required by science, our politicians have been sitting on our hands. That needs to change.

I have devoted my entire adult life to the fight to save our planet. I have published research in top academic journals. I have managed multimillion solar financings as an environmental attorney. I have organized historic actions against factory farms as a grassroots organizer–and risked my own freedom in the process. But the one thing I’ve learned from my 20 years of climate activism is that no one person can’t come even close to doing it alone.

It takes a movement of ordinary people to make change. We need people knocking on doors and making phone calls. We need people making videos and beautiful art. And we need people contributing financially to our small donor campaign. (We’re hoping to raise $2000 by Monday to send a text message to every Berkeley voter about our plans for climate change.) 

The world can’t wait. Can you support us today?

- Wayne