Dear Evan,

I have always liked this photo you sent us the summer you lived in a yurt without water and electricity, high in the Rockies. You rebuilt and maintained the hiking trails above the tree line of the highest mountains in Colorado, so that hikers would not step on the plants and destroy the fragile ecosystem. You helped build a clinic in Guatemala and taught villagers how to use water filtration devices to have clean water.

We tried to be a good example for you when you were a child, by picking up trash at our campsites and on canoe trips and respecting the beauty of our National Parks.  We recycled and reduced our carbon footprint, but you went way beyond that. We are so proud of you.

I wish I could say that I am proud of our government and our leaders, but they are making it easier for the fossil fuel industry to poison our air and water and destroy the land that we love by removing the regulations that protect them. They say they don’t believe in climate change. I never thought that I would become an activist again at my age. I never thought that the things I fought for in the early 70’s would need defending again, like the EPA.

I promise to keep fighting to protect the only world we have, to promote clean energy and land stewardship and to defend the rights of all living species. I promise to be a pain in the ass if I have to. I hope that we are successful and that you are proud of us too. We want your future family to enjoy the same beautiful places we enjoyed.

Love,

Mom and Dad