To the editor:

Rep. Elise Stefanik is letting down the people of New York’s 21st Congressional District regarding climate action. While residents of the North Country are being affected by a changing climate as I type this letter, and while she acknowledges the reality of the climate crisis, she has made no plans to act and implement vital changes.

Donald Trump may call her a “star” for her recent role in the impeachment hearings, but we, the youth of the North Country, are disappointed in her apathy for the people of her district. On Dec. 6, over 120 concerned constituents gathered outside of her office to voice their concern and fear over the climate crisis. Rather than taking adequate notes and information from the people whose lives are being affected by her inaction, her staff brushed off and even scoffed at the stories told by real people living in the North Country.

Where is she while mothers, farmers, school children and local representatives stand to lose our livelihoods and futures? What was she doing while we stood through the cold and snow to show her what this means to us? She’s funding her campaigns with money from fossil fuel executives, and defending the very administration whose corrupt decisions have led to some of the biggest setbacks for environmental protections this nation has ever seen.

Following the strike, Rep. Stefanik released a statement about her lack of support for a Green New Deal, claiming that she is not in favor of “eliminating air travel,” “knocking down every building in the country” and “massively reducing dairy and beef consumption.” It is clear that we are dealing with a representative who does not even care enough to read the resolution to which she is referring, since the Green New Deal does not speak to a single one of those three points. Why is it that our elected official knows less about a valid solution to our current climate emergency than a crowd of 20-something-year-olds? The answer is simple: Rep. Stefanik does not care about our future. In releasing this statement, she has chosen the side of fossil fuel money over the lives and futures of our neighbors.

For the air we breathe, for the water we drink and for the mountains we call home, Rep. Stefanik needs to step up and rise to the challenges of climate action, or step aside while we elect a true North Country representative in 2020 who knows what it means to care for their district.

Thompson Tomaszewski

Saranac Lake