Protecting ourselves from a disrupted climate and its impacts is necessary to keep the West such a great place to live.

Climate change is too big for Westerners to stop all by ourselves. But we can do our share to reduce it. And with all that we have at stake, we have good reason to lead the nation by showing what can be done.

That will take understanding, leadership, and action by public officials, businesses, private groups and individuals – by all of us.

The good news is that many predicted effects of climate change are based on an assumption that emissions of heat-trapping gases will go up by one percent each year. If we limit emissions, the extent of climate change and its impacts will be less.

And we can reduce emissions.

The United States, with under five percent of the world’s population, puts out 24 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. So we can do more than any other country to reduce climate change. The West, too, is part of the problem.

The West can instead be part of the solution. RMCO is leading the way, through our Colorado Climate Project, a new Colorado Climate Network to support local programs, our water adaptation programs, our efforts to protect threatened national parks, our reports, and our other work. The next few pages on our programs show how.