Aisha Johnk, Preschool Teacher

Dear Future Generation, Are you a relative of mine? Perhaps my Great Great Grandchild? If so then something dramatic has happened in my lifetime. Hopefully what happened is a global awareness of the destruction we are doing to our planet. …Read more

Anna Guarneri, Teacher

I have 49 years of wonderful memories. The best memories of my childhood are closely related to nature: I remember the colors of the sky, all the colors of the sky, and the clouds of any form but especially those …Read more

Mark Stemen, Professor

I am sorry. As I sit here early in the morning and think about my great, great-granddaughter, living in a climate-changed world, I am sorry is the main thought that keeps coming to mind. I am writing this letter to …Read more

Ernest Zebrowski, Author and Retired Physics Professor

Dear Casimir, Do you know how to reverse an unwelcome truth? You start by lying about it, very loudly, and over and over. Then you coach others into joining you in repeating your lies and even improving on them. Eventually …Read more

David Ehrenfeld, Rutgers Professor of Biology, Author

To Our Descendants, I'll make this short, because you are probably busy getting ready for the winter. I live in what you may call The Age of Wasted Cheap Energy, although I'm sure you have nastier terms to describe our …Read more

Jill Talbot, Professor and Essayist

Years ago, in the middle of a July night, my hands sifted through a bend in the Eagle River to rearrange a mosaic made by moonlight, while a silhouette of the man I loved and would one day lose leapt …Read more

Ed Schilling, Retired ESL/EFL & Community College Teacher

“…in the years to come, this issue will dwarf all the others combined. It will become the only issue.” –Tim Flannery, “The Weather Makers,” referring to climate change. We did manage to turn climate change around. The Paris Climate Summit …Read more

Elaine Kihara, Retired College Academic Advisor

December 2015. The improbable has happened. Decades of dedication and persistence by some of our generation's best minds and hearts, the courage of those empowered to make decisions, and the voices of tens of millions gave us a more successful …Read more

Kathryn Stanton, Professor of Geology, Sacramento City College

To My Great-Great Grandchildren: As we approach the Paris 2015 climate talks, I have fears as well as hopes. My first hope is that this letter finds you and the Earth, six generations from now, in good health! I have …Read more

Jan Haag, Professor, Journalism/English

The year I graduated from high school the country wrapped itself in the flag for the nation’s bicentennial. Everything turned red, white and blue in 1976. I turned 18 in July and began college after Labor Day. I voted for …Read more

Liam McDaid, Professor of Astronomy, Sacramento City College

We had everything. Well, maybe not casinos on Mars. We had a world that was healthier, safer, with access to more information and personal power than ever before in history. It was maintained with a catch – the widespread use …Read more

Elizabeth V. Forrester, Philosophy Professor, Sacramento City College

Dearest Future Friends and Family, One of the most popular children’s books of my time was entitled, Where The Wild Things Are. It told the story of a mischievous little boy, Max, who when sent to bed without his supper, …Read more

Craig Davis, Geography Professor, Sacramento City College

My original thought on writing this letter was to address it to my son Luka as he is my most immediate connection to the future. Addressing people farther removed in time is a bit more ethereal but I think my …Read more

Tamara Cheshire, Indigenous Adjunct Professor of Anthropology and Native American Studies

Well my Great Ones, the Europeans finally tried to do something after all this time. We told them over and over again; we showed them how to sustain and live within the capacity of their environment; but for hundreds of …Read more

Kel Munger, Teacher, Journalist

To the dear ones I will never meet: I once saw a relative get into a car—yes, a personal automobile, and at that time, we had more personal automobiles in the driveway and garage than there were licensed drivers in …Read more

Stephen Robinson, Astronaut (Retired), Research Scientist and Engineering Professor

Dear Future Robinsons, Back around the turn of the century, flying to space was a rare human privilege, a dream come true, the stuff of movies (look it up), and an almost impossible ambition for children the world around. But …Read more

Michael Pollan, Author, Journalist, Activist and Professor

Dear Future Family, I know you will not read this note until the turn of the century, but I want to explain what things were like back in 2015, before we figured out how to roll back climate change. As …Read more

Ginny McReynolds, Writer, Retired Dean

Dear Future Friends, I am writing this just three months before the Paris Summit, the UN Climate Change Conference of 2015, when the nations of the world will finally make a commitment to reduce global emissions. I know when you …Read more

Bill McKibben, Author, Educator and Environmentalist

Dear Descendants, The first thing to say is, sorry. We were the last generation to know the world before full-on climate change made it a treacherous place. That we didn’t get sooner to work slowing it down is our great …Read more