Last June, for the first time in history, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an energy bill with commitments to help solve the global climate crisis. Now it’s the Senate’s turn.

In addition to the international credibility a strong science-based greenhouse reduction target would give us, a strong energy and climate bill would let us literally re-energize local economies in Washington state and elsewhere with green job training, commonsense energy efficiency measures and innovative homegrown renewable power. And we could stop buying coal that pollutes our air and water and kills miners, and oil that devastates coastlines at home and funds our enemies abroad.

As a 25-year-old software engineer, I believe that with this energy bill, the U.S. Senate has the opportunity to help ensure that Earth is still livable by the time I retire.

Will our representatives show the kind of farsighted vision that abolished slavery, built our national park system and took us to the moon? Or will they prove themselves more representative of the fossil-fuel industries than of the American people?

Let’s hope they get it right. This chance may not come again.

Benjamin Sibelman