John grew up in Colorado and grew up hiking and climbing in the high country and all over Colorado. Like all Coloradans, he treasures our public lands and wilderness -- which make Colorado the wonderful place it is, and make our Colorado way of life possible.

But the Colorado we know and love is changing, along with the rest of the world. John remembers as a teenager hiking and climbing on and around the large permanent snowfields and glaciers that were scattered throughout our high mountains. Today, in those same places, the snow is often gone by mid-summer, and glaciers like the Arapaho Glacier in the Indian Peaks are a tiny remnant of what they used to be.

The fact that we can see the impacts of climate change on our state in the course of a single lifetime is a warning sign to us all to address this crucial issue. We are not powerless to stop climate change. John’s wife, Lisa, works at a wind energy company, and she has educated John about the technology we already have -- and new technologies that are within our grasp -- that give us the means to address the climate crisis.

We can do this. What we lack is the political will to solve this problem. Even as the vast majority of scientists and Americans demand action on climate, Cory Gardner and Donald Trump have taken us in the wrong direction. In the Senate, John will prioritize fighting climate change by:

• Recommitting to the Paris Climate Accords so we have an international strategy to end climate change.
• Supporting a major federal infrastructure plan that prioritizes clean energy, a renewable-friendly transmission grid, public transportation, and energy-efficient construction.
• Redoubling the federal role in research, development, and incubation of clean energy technology that the market is already seeking.
• Taking aggressive steps -- including by aggressive infrastructure programs -- to ensure that the thousands of Colorado workers who work in the energy sector have jobs and opportunities through this shift in our economy.