The following article is formatted in the form of an informal letter addressed to the President of the United States.

President Trump,

Considering that you’re such a busy man, running the country and all, I’ll try to keep this letter as brief as possible. However, I’m really quite frustrated about the topic of this letter, and recent events surrounding it, so it may be a little difficult to keep it short. I’ll try my best though.

Here’s a recap, just in case you forgot – busy running the country, remember? Approximately one week ago, you signed an executive order which rolled back many climate protections. This is quite self-explanatory; these laws, that gave aid to the damaged earth, and were attempts at proving the quality of the environment, are being removed. Under these new laws, the earth simply loses.

My first reaction was wanting to, quite literally, scream. (I’m not going to pretend that this is the first time this has happened. Frankly, I do not agree with the majority of your words and actions. But let’s take things one at a time, shall we?) Here I am, watching the earth quite literally be sentenced to death, while I’m stuck sitting in my high school in the middle of Arizona, unable to do a thing. But of course, like so many times before, I realized I was wrong. I may not be able to propose laws, or vote…but I can write.

So here’s the deal. I am here writing this now to tell you that what you are doing is wrong. Listen or don’t – that’s your choice. But I will not allow a whole bunch of old men in suits to destroy the planet I live on.

The most important thing that you need to realize is this: global warming is fact. I don’t understand the purpose in denying this, except for maybe the fact that you seem to be trying your absolute hardest to distance yourself from anything Obama-era, including those protections that you’ve removed. This is childish in itself; it’s like two toddlers refusing to have the same favorite color because they’re too prideful to actually admit to agreeing on something. But if this isn’t the case, if you truly do not believe in the existence of global warming, that is another matter altogether.

I’d really like to know. How can you honestly believe that? The proof is in the countless number of statistics, detailing temperatures rising and animals dying and air quality degrading. Trash litters our streets and beaches. Water levels are rapidly rising due to the mass melting of the polar ice caps. Species of animals and plants are having their habitats ripped away from them, leaving the population to slowly die out until ultimate extinction. The honey bees, the tiny insects that provide pollination for 30 percent of the entire planet’s crops, are disappearing, and we have no idea why. Our planet is literally dying around us as we speak.

Why is this allowed to continue? I understand that you’re doing this to “create jobs.” But what about jobs in the renewable energy industry? Why, in spite of all these obviously negative side effects, is the earth and its inhabitants’ wellbeings being completely ignored? Are we really that selfish as human beings, that all we care about is if we have a place to call home? Well, news flash: we don’t have that luxury either. The longer these problems – crimes, even – continue, the more they affect us as the human race. We may not necessarily be displaced, like that of the wild and plant life, but what about the quality of life?

I know what you’re thinking: You won’t live long enough to see the consequences of leaving these problems unresolved. Lucky you. But I will. Me and countless of other generations that will come after me. Don’t you think about the consequences, that your children with have to deal with? Honestly, I would rather leave my own children and grandchildren with a beautiful planet of white sand beaches and endless fields of colorful flowers than a world of smog and dead bees.

You have a choice, Mr. President. You are, as they say, the most powerful man in the Western world. Will you go through with your promised plan, sentencing our one universal home to almost certain destruction, or will you listen to what I am saying? What the public is saying? What every single scientist on this planet is saying?

And if you decide to ignore these warnings? I guess you don’t really care about the American public. Or, you know, humanity in general.

Your choice.

Sincerely,

Lexie Schramm