All of our work to stop global warming comes down to what happens in the next week.

President Obama has sent his budget to Congress, and it proposes a cap and trade system to limit greenhouse gas emissions, while also allocating money to move America away from the dirty fossil fuels of the past and toward the clean, renewable energy sources of the future (what we like to call an Energy [R]evolution 'round these parts).

Time is of the essence here. Further delay could be disastrous, leading to catastrophic droughts, wildfires, floods, and sea-level rise. Obama’s budget is the best shot we have of passing strong global warming legislation in 2009. We must take action to make sure it passes.

Because of course the powerful fossil fuel industries will be fighting this tooth and nail. They know what the coming energy revolution will mean for their core businesses, and they aren’t going down without a fight. They want to see cap and trade and funds for building a clean energy economy stripped out of the budget. To ensure a green and peaceful future, we can not let them win this fight.

Congress is likely to vote on this in the next week. That’s why it’s so important that we take action right now and tell Congress to keep limits to global warming pollution and funding for a clean energy economy in the budget.