Mother, Doctor and Climate Project Presenter

One day last year, Dr. Susan Pacheco's children persuaded her and her husband, also a doctor, to see Al Gore's movie An Inconvenient Truth. It was a homework assignment for the teenagers so they made a family outing of it. "Before going to see the movie, I was not particularly interested in climate change, but seeing it changed my life," Dr. Pacheco says. "Fire and passion came back into my heart." She felt compelled to do something about the climate crisis.

Dr. Pacheco trained with Al Gore and The Climate Project to become a climate messenger in December 2006, and her life is now dramatically different. She has traveled to her native Puerto Rico many times to give the talk and find ways to make islanders more aware of the climate crisis. Dr. Pacheco decided to make Puerto Rico the platform for her climate change efforts because of its vulnerability. The coastlines that surround Puerto Rico are at risk from rising sea levels from continued climate change. This will, in turn, substantially impact the local population and the tourist industry that supports it.

"People in Puerto Rico are thirsty for knowledge," Dr. Pacheco says. When she gives her slide shows on climate change she feels the audience "come towards me."

Being involved in the climate crisis as a trained messenger has changed Susan Pacheco's perspective on life. As a physician, the demands of the job were so great that there was little time to get involved in other issues. Now there isn't a day that goes by that doesn't touch on climate change.

This is just one example of how individuals, organizations, businesses and governments are helping to stop climate change. There are thousands more across the country and around the world – and it’s through these efforts that we’re going to be successful. We can’t afford not to succeed in this unprecedented challenge to our planet.

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