From Nathan Dombeck

Janesville

To the Editor:

The election results feel like a betrayal to those who have dedicated their lives in service to preserving our planet, protecting a stable biosphere, and mitigating the steadily worsening climate-change-fueled disasters. The highest office in America is now occupied by a man who promised improper benefits to oil companies in exchange for campaign financing; who uttered the phrase ‘drill baby drill’ in response to a question on his energy policy; a man who staked his claim on rolling back the Inflation Reduction Act incentives the moment he steps foot in the Oval Office.

To those struggling with visions of what a habitable future will now look like, I want to offer hope. Changes are in motion that cannot be turned back, all around the globe. Solar energy is now the cheapest form of electricity generation (and you better believe that utility companies know it!); battery technology continues to improve by leaps and bounds (and dollars and cents); European Union carbon emissions dropped by 8% last year as renewable energy took hold.

As important as any technological development, there is a groundswell of grassroots environmental movements afoot, groups full of motivated and optimistic people ready to work on a local, state, and federal level for the good of our planet.

Don’t lose hope. Join with others and share your time, energy, sweat, and tears. They’ll try to bury you; don’t forget that you’re a seed.