As more and more field observations and recent research establish that the effects of global warming are coming upon us more and more rapidly, it is growing increasingly apparent that the most potent actions as the highest levels are vital for the future of life on our small planet. In that regard, political pressure is perhaps the most important thing that we as individuals can do to change the course of the future.

As we have said elsewhere in the ClimateCorps, politicians have tended over the years to discount ‘form emails’ that they receive from various online campaigns supporting a variety of issues.  Their staff members may simply count the totals ‘for and against’ on any particular issue. But time and time again we are told by political figures that when someone takes the time to actually write, call or even pay a visit to discuss an issue, those are noticed and weighed most heavily of all.  Their assumption is that for every individual who is moved to actually put pen to paper, or place that phone call, there must be 10,000 others with the same strong feelings but less personal drive to be heard.

So please, if you will pick on thing to do pick this one.  Make it more than a one time effort. Make it part of your weekly self-expression to write a letter or place a call to some person of political influence to express your concern over global warming and our ‘lukewarm’ national response to this massive problem.

Write your senators and congressmen, write to the president. Write to local officials. Write to the secretaries of the Departments of Energy, Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency.

Keep a list, and check it twice.  All addresses are available on the Internet with simple queries. But for a condensed listing of contact addresses for American senators and congressional representatives, here is a link to the website called Contacting the Congress with a clickable map.

If you really don’t have the time or inclination to ‘put pen to paper’ (or the e-quivalent) then an individual email (not a mass emailed form letter) is a reasonable substitute.  Here is a link to a Congressional Email Directory that you can use.