Greed is destroying the environment we depend on. Those who will profit most from the oil corporations drilling derricks in ocean floors or fracking in the northern plains do not seem to be at all concerned about children’s futures. As widely reported, North Dakota is another state that has also been much changed by the influx of workers and the oil-and-gas industry’s vice-ridden culture.

Many of us are now learning just how our lifestyles add to global warming, learning from direct experience with—or the media’s reports on—extreme-weather events, and on the worldwide scientific agreement that our lifestyles add to climate change.

It’s been recently discovered that 3 million square miles of once permanently frozen permafrost in the Russian tundra is rapidly thawing, causing the release of large amounts of methane, which magnifies global warming. The resulting loss of snow cover, meaning sunlight not being reflected upward, warms exposed earth and doubles the warming effect, which is why in cities like Chicago many are employed retrofitting buildings, and painting rooftops white to counter said effects.

Parents are finding it hard to answer the questions children bring back from earth science classes. What does the future hold for them? Can we conserve?