He said it right out loud: “So using less dirty energy, transitioning to cleaner sources of energy, wasting less energy through our economy is where we need to go. And this plan will get us there faster. But I want to be honest -- this will not get us there overnight. The hard truth is carbon pollution has built up in our atmosphere for decades now. And even if we Americans do our part, the planet will slowly keep warming for some time to come.” In his historic environmental address at Georgetown University on June 25, President Obama outlined his climate change plan and called on us to make wise choices now, even though many of us alive today will not live to see their full fruition: a habitable planet earth for the next generation, and the next, and those who come after.

Specifically, President Obama encouraged us to “speak up at town halls, church groups, PTA meetings. Push back on misinformation. Speak up for the facts. Broaden the circle of those who are willing to stand up for our future. (Applause.) Convince those in power to reduce our carbon pollution. Push your own communities to adopt smarter practices. Invest. Divest. (Applause.) Remind folks there's no contradiction between a sound environment and strong economic growth. And remind everyone who represents you at every level of government that sheltering future generations against the ravages of climate change is a prerequisite for your vote. Make yourself heard on this issue. (Applause.)”

And on August 1st, the circle of voices who are “sheltering future generations” got broader. Four Republican leaders who ran the Environmental Protection Agency under four Republican presidents published an essay in the New York Times supporting the President's plan and concluding: "More will be required. But we must continue efforts to reduce the climate-altering pollutants that threaten our planet. The only uncertainty about our warming world is how bad the changes will get, and how soon. What is most clear is that there is no time to waste."

As my series of reflections on Mary Pipher's The Green Boat begins to conclude, I turn yet again to her wisdom: "Humanity is facing a crucial decade. Our individual and cultural resilience systems will be fully tested and elucidated. At this moment in time we have the opportunity to work together for the right to a future for our children and the children of all living species, and for the right to a healthy, sustainable planet. This is our only world, after all.... Healing the earth is not a liberal or conservative idea--it is a form of prayer."

The transcript of President Obama's June 25, 2013 address on climate change, which includes his climate action plan, is available at whitehouse.gov, and it is poetic, practical, and passionate. The authors of the August 1, 2013 New York Times opinion essay, "A Republican Case for Climate Action" are William D. Ruckelshaus, Lee M. Thomas, William K. Reilly, and Christine Todd Whitman. Mary Pipher's words can be found on pages 217 and 218 of her June 2013 paperback, The Green Boat: Reviving Ourselves in Our Capsized Culture.