I am not a politician, nor am I a person with a position in power. I don't claim to know everything about the world today. Honestly, I don't think that I know nearly as much as I should. That is mostly my fault.

What I am is a 21 year old senior in college. I attend Eastern Michigan University in a beautiful state that I love. A state that is known for its beautiful lakes, amazing wildlife, and its "untamed" upper peninsula. A state that I am worried may look much, much different in the future.

The Earth's environment, and our future, are at risk. The global sea level has risen about 17 centimeters in the last century, which is almost double compared to the last century. The global surface temperature is rising, too. Ten of the warmest years ever have occurred in the past twelve years. Because of rising temperatures, the oceans have absorbed a lot of the heat. Furthermore, ice sheets are shrinking and the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice has declined rapidly. Glaciers are retreating all around the world. I am sure that you are aware of these things. All of what I have just mentioned only scratches the surface of what is happening to the Earth...happening to our home. And we have caused it.

Rather than looking at the situation that we have created as irreversible, we need to look at it as a problem with a reachable solution. We can do something to fix it, but we have to act quickly. We need to act now. While in the long run we do need everyone in the world to come together, what can WE do as a country to make a change? Change starts with an individual. And that individual is like a match that starts a fire that can burn so strong that a difference is made. We, the United States, need to be that individual.

I'm just a girl from a small town in Michigan who doesn't really know a whole lot about everything going on in the world today, but I do know that I want to know about our future. I know that I don't want Michigan's beautiful lakes and forests to one day be a "remember when." I do know that I don't want people to look back at us and think "you could've stopped this from happening."

Change needs to start now and it needs to start with us.