Happy New Year!

I hope that you enjoyed a wonderful holiday season, spending time with friends, family and loved ones, and are recharged and looking forward to the year ahead.

Almost four years ago, Defend Our Future set out not only to prove that young people cared strongly about climate change, but also that they would be more likely to vote on the issue if they pledged to do so.

We’ve shown this to be the case, from our initial work in Colorado and now through our nationwide efforts to empower young people around the issue on college campuses and online.

Last year, we witnessed more young people who went to the polls, voting on the issues and the candidates they believed would work together to build a better future.

2018 will be a monumental year in the fight to protect the progress we’ve made on climate. President Trump and his EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, are continuing their assault to rollback safeguards that are helping to protect our communities from climate change and toxic pollution.

Congress is one of our last lines of defense against an administration that has repeatedly put polluters and their lobbyists ahead of a better future for all. It’s up to people like you to show our representatives that their constituents expect them to fight for their communities.

This means more than turning out on Election Day. Our representatives need to know that people are engaged on the issues and resolved to hold their leaders accountable.

That’s where we come in. We want more young people to recognize that voting is not the end of one’s civic duties. We’re encouraging more people to educate themselves and their elected representatives on climate change and solutions that will benefit the environment, the economy and our future.

We’ve added more resources to our website to help young people raise their voices. You’ll find fact sheets as well as tips on meeting with lawmakers, writing letters to the editor and hosting events.

We’re also making it easier than ever to register to vote.

Ten months from now, millions of Americans will go to the polls to elect the next Congress.

But much work must be done – starting today – for climate and our planet to win in November.

I encourage you to look around our website, and, if you haven’t already, take that first action so that we can build a better world for this and future generations.

I’m hopeful for the year ahead and can’t wait to see what we will accomplish!