For hundreds of thousands of years, humanity has called Earth home. Over these millenniums, we have destroyed our planet for our own benefit. Dumping our single-use cola bottles in the ocean, not caring that these chunks of plastic will outlive humanity. Killing endangered species and demolishing their habitats in selfish hopes of making the rich, richer.

While it is fantastic to take shorter showers, buy from sustainable brands, and lean away from single use plastic, these small changes are unlikely to offset our overall impacts. The average citizen cannot singlehandedly reverse climate change, and the average citizen is not at fault for climate change. The true cause of this horror can be traced back to the billionaires who seem to be willing to sacrifice the future of the planet to have a bit more money in their pockets. While we as consumers are partially at fault, as we are enlarging the demand for these unsustainable products, but the true villains are those making a countlessly bigger impact than the average person by feeding these demands.

Climate change was a problem long before we were born, and living a “climate-friendly lifestyle” is just about impossible. We have been left to pick up the pieces of our greedy and careless ancestors. The reason that government officials are thrilled to allow this pollution is because they will not live to see the devastating impacts of their decisions. Our legislators will die of old age. We will die of their egocentric choices. We are inching towards our last possible chance we to save our planet, and switching to paper straws isn’t going to cut it.

Recently, the Alaska legislature unanimously decided to approve the Willow Project. The Willow project is a project proposed by ConocoPhillips’ that would expand oil and gas drilling extensively in Western Arctic Alaska. Not only would this threaten countless ecosystems and animals, but it would also generate enough oil to release 9.2 million metric tons of carbon pollution annually, warming our planet and enacting a devastating impact on our future. After its approval in Alaska, the decision on whether to move forward with this project was put the hands of President Biden. The man that pledged to end oil drilling on federal lands in his election campaign (one of the things that gained him so many votes), was later torn on a decision for which he had already pledged his stance. Devastatingly, the Biden Administration recently decided to approve the Willow Project.

Despite protests, millions of letters and phone calls, and a global uproar, President Biden has decided to follow through with his decision. Though he is expected to impose various restrictions, it is unlikely to offset the massive environmental impacts this decision will have. It is a sadly uncommon occurrence to see politicians backtrack on protective promises in the name of money. The fact that we have come to a point where we see money as more important than our planet, animals, and our own species is terrifying. I cannot wait for the day that the people who will actually be impacted by these decisions are in positions of power. President Biden, Secretary Haaland, and many other congresspeople have shown their true colors. They can never again claim to care about our future when they have contributed to its downfall significantly.

We’re just kids. We aren’t in major positions of power. The feeling that there is nothing you can do to stop this imminent crisis is a combination of helpless, anxiety-ridden, and trapped. However, this isn’t truly over. The one thing that we do have to our advantage is hope. Hope fuels us. Hope tells us that we still have a chance to change this. Even as minors, even without money, even without elected positions of power, we can change this. We can stop the Willow project, and we can save our future.

If we can pressure President Biden and our representatives to revise their decision on this project, we may still have a fighting chance to reverse climate change. The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), has an option on their website to send a letter to President Biden and Secretary Haaland. If you are interested, you may choose to either send a prewritten letter or to write your own. If that isn’t your style, you can call the Whitehouse at +1 (202) 456-1111 (or +1 (202) 456-6213 if hearing or speech impaired). There is a great script on Protect the Arctic’s website. We can still fix this. It shouldn’t be up to us to deal with it, but it is. Let’s end climate change before it ends us.