The climate crisis is an existential threat and the Trump administration's subservience to Big Oil will only accelerate the planet's warming. We need urgent action which is why I endorse the Green New Deal, including the creation of a Civilian Climate Corps to create millions of good-paying jobs that will ensure a speedy and sustainable transition to renewable energy across the board.

Despite what the right may have told you, the Green New Deal is not some woke scam to ban beef farming or take away your old Corvette. It's a plan for revitalization, not just for the climate but for our economy, our country and our planet as a whole: clean water, clean air, clean energy, more green space, and millions of jobs, just to name a few of the benefits.

But climate action isn't just about planning for a better future because, unfortunately, our world is being hit with unprecedented disasters right now. That's why we must bolster federal disaster aid including increased funding for FEMA. Any cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association by Trump must be reversed, and more research into climate, weather, and environmental science should be funded by the federal government.

Climate change is also a racial and economic justice issue. Too often, the people at the frontlines of this emerging crisis are part of impoverished or marginalized communities. This isn't an abstraction or some woke nonsense: think of the Dakota Access Pipeline plowing through sacred Native American land or "Cancer Alley" in Louisiana disproportionately affecting poor and Black people. A proactive response to the climate crisis requires addressing these disparities head-on and taking lessons learned by these communities to a national and global scale.