that climate change represents a severe threat to human health as well as our economic security. Out of this panic came the treaty（条约）reached this past weekend by world leaders to keep the Paris climate agreement alive.

Yet many Americans still don't regard the threat as a key priority for our government, and suopont President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris treaty. Campaign contributions from fossil fuel companies have convinced elected officials to look the other way. A certain amount of despair has resulted in widespread apathy（漠然）.

But there is another reason that has been discussed far less openly. While a growing number of people understand that climate change will have significant worldwide consequences, many Americans have an intuitive（直觉的）belief that their nation is more capable than others of adapting to a changed environment. Why? Because they have before.

This historical success, however, resulted from the federal government taking science seriously, and making investments to urge revolution and innovation.

But these innovations did not happen by themselves, or simply because of the United States' rich resources. They depended on consistent support from the leaders about the need to take action when faced with crises. This has been especially true in the environmental crisis.

President Bill Clinton had a shockingly modest record of advancing climate security, particularly given that his vice president, Al Gore, had been one of the most outspoken environmentalists in Congress. By far Clinton's biggest accomplishment was assigning Gore to participate іn thе Куоtо Рrоtoсоl negotiations. Сlіntоn сhоѕе, hоwеvеr, tо аvоіd whаt ѕurеlу wоuld have been a terrible fight in the Senate to gain approval of the treaty. While this effort probably would have failed, it would have signaled to the American people how seriously the Democratic Party took climate change.

Thus, the time has clearly arrived for progressive candidates to start campaigning on a platform built around the need for a sustainability revolution. Such a plan should include a carbon tax, well-funded clean energy research, evolved agricultural policies and smarter public transport. Given that Generation X and millennials（千禧一代）never bought into the fiction that the United States is immune to the dangers of global warming, the time is ripe to make climate security a crucial government responsibility. Only by doing so can we begin the long-overdue（拖延好久的）campaign to save the planet.