Young Climate Activists Are Catalyst For Change

Last week I spoke at a press conference in front of the U.S. Capitol with climate activist Greta Thunberg. She came to Washington demanding Congress take action on the climate crisis. Greta was accompanied by an international delegation of youth climate activists. It included indigenous tribal members from the Amazon who have seen their rainforests ravaged by fires and students from all across America.

Every year our planet gets hotter, droughts last longer, and in New Mexico, wildfires burn for weeks. The longevity, damage and costs of these fires was nearly unimaginable just a few decades ago.

I've spent my entire adult life working to protect some of the wildest public lands in New Mexico-places I truly love. I've seen them change in the face of a warming planet. I've spent decades working to build a renewable energy economy. But the progress that we've made simply hasn't kept pace with the speed and the scale of the warming that threatens our very existence.

VIDEO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich Backs Green New Deal, Says Young Climate Activists Are Catalyst For Change, September 20, 2019.

That's why I announced last week that I am signing on to the Green New Deal. I'm supporting a Green New Deal because the rising generation of activists understands what we're up against, and is willing to advocate for the kind of bold changes that equal the scale of the climate crisis. We can no longer afford to be in denial or cautious in the face of the greatest challenge or our time.

I stand in solidarity with all the students and young leaders in New Mexico and around the world who are who are demanding action on climate. They are the most powerful tool that we have to make this right.