For months, we’ve been urging you to contact your legislators to ensure strong climate provisions remain in the Build Back Better Act. Many of you have signed a petition, called your legislators, and attended events, and many others are publicly telling their personal stories of why bold investments in climate solutions are so critical.
One Moms Clean Air Force member from West Virginia told her story in her local paper. I was so moved by it, I wanted to share it with you. It inspired me to keep fighting.
We are quoting a portion of Holly Bradley’s letter here, and encourage you to read the full letter. Holly wrote:
“My husband and I are farmers, and I’m a part-time activist. We have two young sons. Most years, we barely get by, working seven days a week. We qualified for Medicaid last year…
“We love this Mountain State and can’t imagine living elsewhere. We know that things have to change, though, for us to stay.
“Everyone in West Virginia will tell you our winters are disappearing. When I was a kid — and I’m only 32 — the snow was regularly as deep as I was tall. Now, summers seem to last till October or November. Heavy snow is so rare, it’s triggered mass layoffs at ski resorts, like Snowshoe, where my husband worked until five years ago. So we took up farming, only to watch a record hail storm destroy most of our crops last year while unprecedented flash floods plague farmers statewide. How will my boys — ages 2 and 5 — survive if this keeps up?”
Sadly, Holly’s story is similar to what we hear from moms across the country. These are the voices that politicians are ignoring when they don’t want to do anything to address the impacts of climate change.
Please tell your Senators to make climate change a top priority by supporting the Build Back Better Act with all its critical climate provisions. Our children deserve nothing less.