Starting Aug. 10, our senators will be home for the recess, giving us our best chance to get their attention before they head back to Washington in September and vote on the most important climate change legislation in U.S. history: the American Clean Energy and Security Act.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, as part of the Parade of Reasons on Aug. 10, I brought a keychain of Winnie the Pooh with a caption saying, “Stop global warming so that Pooh will still have woods to play in!” and left it at Murray and Cantwell’s offices to show them why a strong, comprehensive federal global warming bill is important to me.

The longer we wait to enact this legislation, the higher the cost of inaction will be, both for the environment and our children who will end up footing the bill.

I urge anyone who cares about the environment and the well-being of future generations to take action against climate change now by calling, e-mailing or writing to Sens. Cantwell and Murray today and explaining why you want the Senate to pass a strong federal global warming bill this year.

– Shirley Leung