Climate change is having a serious impact on the environment and the economy. My family cannot afford to live under the threat of another year of devastation and destruction due to climate change and extreme weather as was experienced in 2012. For more than a year, we have watched climate change happen right before our eyes here in Maine.

According to the Center for American Progress, there were 25 extreme weather events in the U.S. from 2011-2012, with damages of more than $1 billion each. Those events left more than 1,100 people dead, with economic costs that reached nearly $188 billion. People can no longer ignore the climate change that is fueling more frequent and severe weather, not to mention the lives lost and widespread damage associated with it.

I am lending my voice to a growing call for a climate solution during the Climate Change Week of Action and am joining millions of Americans who are urging President Obama to set new standards that cut carbon pollution from the nation’s power plants.

Coal- and oil-fired power plants are the single largest source of carbon dioxide pollution in the United States. There are no current carbon dioxide emission standards for those dirty power plants. Setting limits on carbon pollution from power plants is a key safeguard that will address the root causes of climate change and protect public health.

The president must fulfill his often repeated obligation to take meaningful action on climate change.

Stephan Drane, Auburn