If the politics of inaction and delay that have triumphed in this country continues for another decade, then Planetary Purgatory in the likely future facing our country before midcentury - probably in your own lifetime.

The United States could dramatically reduce its carbon emissions per kilowatt-hour without raising its overall energy bill.

The science is crystal clear: we humans are the primary cause of global warming, and we face a bleak future if we fail to act quickly.

Some 3 million years ago, when the earth was a little more than 3°C warmer than preindustrial levels (about 2.2°C warmer than today), Antarctica had far less ice and sea levels were a stunning 25 meters higher than today. If we stay on our current emissions path, the planet will almost certainly be that warm by the century's end.

When people ask me what they should do, I reply, "Get informed, get outraged, and then get political."

We created a way of raising standards of living that we can't possibly pass on to our children.

You must become a climate champion, a single-issue voter. You must take whatever action you can. You must use whatever influence you have wherever it would make a difference, even if it is only to educate the people around you.