Last month, Nathaniel Rich made national headlines with his New York Times Magazine exposé entitled Losing Earth: The decade we almost solved climate change. The story takes you through the political decisions and unheard calls of early scientists who were some of the first to raise a red flag about the changing climate. In the fall out of the article, there was room for debate on how history should place blame. As I read it, one thing was abundantly clear: in only a few decades climate change has gone from something we researched and predicted, to something we live with and experience.

Climate change has turned into a continuous alarm clock, stirring our consciousness through a never ending litany of headlines. It is impossible to ignore. This constant reminder is having its effect on the American public, with the most recent polls showing that 60% of Americans are worried about climate change. Sensing this shift in public opinion, the public sector too has begun to prioritize action. In 2017, 82% of fortune 500 businesses had a CSR strategy.  

While the public and business leaders have evolved their opinions on the issue, the actions being taken by governments are not meeting the challenge at hand. The bad news is that emissions are back on the rise this year, as are global temperatures. The good news is that renewable energy jobs are at an unprecedented national level and some of our dirtiest fossil fuel sources are on their way out the door. We are making  progress across the world, however slow it may be. The fate of our planet as we know it depends on how quickly and ambitiously we can achieve the transition away from carbon-producing sources of energy.

Something else Nathaniel Rich got right was the importance of legislative action to set the speed for this transition. His New York Times piece stears far away from making any recommendations for the future, but here at Climate XChange we have a strong recommendation that is backed by years of collective advocacy, scientific research and has been intrinsic to our organization’s identity since the start: to put a price on carbon emissions.

Climate XChange was founded in 2013 by a group of concerned citizens, frustrated by the lack of progress in the fight against climate change, and seeking effective and viable policy solutions to reducing carbon emissions. The opportunity provided by carbon pricing is two fold. It has the potential to generate much needed revenue to fund infrastructure projects that will protect our communities. It also can be invested in new technologies and provide the market advantage needed by the next wave of technology and energy solutions.

We have grown an international audience and expanded our content creation, now hosting a podcast, video series, policy analysis, editorials, and three newsletters. We believe that staying informed is critical for amplifying action on climate change, which is why we strive to make this easier. Earlier this year we launched our podcast, Cooler Earth, which has amassed over 1,500 downloads from countries across the globe.

At a time when our federal government remains stagnant on climate action, states have to lead in making policy that drastically reduce carbon emissions. Climate XChange so far has made progress in Massachusetts. While we are yet to pass a carbon pricing bill, we saw great success with the legislation passing the state senate unanimously. Our campaign continues to grow and we have seen surrounding states follow our lead. With your support we can foster these efforts and give them a fighting chance for passage. We aim to do this by providing policymakers and advocates with cutting-edge research and knowledge they need.

To achieve this we need to fundraise to expand our organizational impact, so we are raffling off three Teslas this Fall. As a company, Tesla’s mission to accelerate the transition to renewable energy aligns with our goals at carbon reduction.

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