First, we can exercise political power at home.
That power derives from a broad and diverse base. It is not built on the foundation of a single issue or industry or place. It can come from a mobilized coalition that represents America, and we can start by organizing our neighborhoods and communities.
Second, we can invest where windows of opportunity are open rather than closed.
China is shifting incentives away from coal power, which has been the leading driver of the country’s emissions. Similarly, Indonesia is taking steps to prevent forest fires. During a recent dry season, those fires emitted carbon at a faster rate than the entire US economy. Opportunities abroad account for the vast majority of the world’s potential to halt warming, and that means domestic policy is not our only hope.
Third, we need to plan for a world where seas are rising and weather is changing.
Some of that is about infrastructure and resilience. But it is also about ingenuity. Cutting edge technologies have always been part of the assumptions for how the Paris agreement would succeed over the long run. We will need innovators and entrepreneurs more than ever. Breakthroughs are an insurance policy for future generations.