John Coffin's Letter

My grandchildren,

Dear Grandchildren,
I am hoping that we have left you a planet in which you can enjoy all the privileges we have had. We were lucky to have had so much, an education, security, health, and enough to eat. Most of all we lived in a beautiful world and I was lucky enough to have a childhood surrounded by nature. When I was young we didn't know how much our way of living was damaging this planet, but as the years went by, there were warnings. At first the voices of those who knew what was coming were few and most people didn't listen.

When the science became clearer we didn't realize how much we needed to change to prevent disaster. Eventually it became all too obvious what had to do, but there were those who were reluctant to act. Some closed their minds, because change would cost them too much. Others denied that fossil fuels were wrecking our climate. Meanwhile those in the poorer countries who had not caused the problem suffered droughts, famine, and floods.

I promise you that we tried to make a difference, we changed our lifestyle dramatically, spent our savings on everything we could do to reduce our carbon foot print, lobbied our MP, signed petitions, went on demonstrations, and more. We planted trees and tried to restore nature in our little bit of the planet. We prayed that the leaders of our nations would act decisively.

At the time of writing this letter, the future of our planet is in the balance. We do not know whether or not our voices have been heard.

Whatever happens, this letter is to tell you that some of us cared.