Dear friends: Below you will see the text of the article I submitted to The Sacramento Bee (main newspaper in Sacramento, California) about our demand to governor Jerry Brown for a Climate Change Major Disaster Declaration. You can use this article to give you more ideas for your phone or e-mail message to the governor. It may also inspire you to write your own article. The State of California is in disarray from the atmospheric rivers powered by Climate Change that has pummeled the state. Only a Climate Change Major Disaster Declaration can give our government the focus and resources to "act before it's too late". I have attached a link to the article "Rural California besieged by pounding wet Winter" that discusses the precarious state of the almost 1,600 miles of levees in the Central Valley of California that, if they break, could flood farms, towns and even the city of Sacramento. Here is the article: Governor Brown: Declare CLIMATE CHANGE A Major Disaster Now Despite the barrage of bad news related to human-induced Climate Change, such as extreme droughts and floods, super hurricanes and tornados, sinking towns, ocean acidification and coastal cities flooding, the response from governments has continued to be incommensurable with the advanced level of the Climate catastrophe. California, under the leadership of Governor Jerry Brown, is the most proactive state in Climate Change action but it has not officially categorized Climate Change in any way that would unleash the full response of our society to tackle it. Even in California, Climate Change remains a side issue. The Robert T. Stafford Act empowers governors to issue Disaster and Emergency Declarations when they deem that current and future catastrophes threaten humans lives, property and the environment, and to request federal assistance if necessary. Exercising that power, on February 10th, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown declared a Major Disaster in the State of California and requested assistance from the federal government. The reason for the declaration was not Climate Change but the catastrophic Atmospheric Rivers powered by Climate Change, that has been pummeling the State. He must follow that declaration with a Climate Change Major Disaster Declaration to recognize Climate Change as the main cause of extreme weather events such as the 5-year exceptional drought and the current record-breaking flooding, and of future catastrophes. A Climate Change Major Disaster Declaration makes solving Climate Change the number one priority to use all the resources of the State of California and from federal disaster assistance, to immediately and massively deal with the causes and the effects of Climate Change in California. Through Climate Change adaptation and prevention actions, the Major Disaster Declaration will transform all aspects of our California economy and infrastructure, from retrofitting the Oroville Dam and the levees in the San Francisco Bay Delta, to changing to carbon-trapping farming, to replacing fossil fuels with renewables, to preparing the California water supply system for the next drought. The state of the Climate demands to go beyond setting up Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emission reductions goals, to move, as quickly as physically possible, to GHG-negative economies and Climate adaptation. Postponing action will guarantee devastation. Indicators of Climate Change are already in the danger zone. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere, which for 1.3 million years had not been higher than 275 ppm (parts per million) until the onset of the Industrial Revolution, are now above 400 ppm. In 2015, the global average air temperature was 1º Celsius warmer than in pre-industrial times, and in 2016 that average reached 1.2º Celsius (A 20 % increase in just 1 year). The atmosphere is already destabilized and humans only have a few years to revert Climate Change. Governor Jerry Brown: in 2016 your Democratic Party modified its political platform regarding Climate Change by stating “Just as America’s greatest generation led the effort to defeat the Axis Powers during World War II, so must our generation now lead a World War II-type national mobilization to save civilization from catastrophic consequences.” Only Climate Change Major Disaster Declarations can fulfill that level of mobilization. You, our Climate champion, can lead the revolt against inaction and inspire the other governors to follow suit. This is your time to be bold and turn California into a beacon of hope for the rest of the country and the world, while converting the California economy into the most advanced in the world. DECLARE CLIMATE CHANGE A MAJOR DISASTER NOW.