Carolyn Uhlenhake Walker is a Des Moines resident and retired teacher.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently issued its Sixth Assessment Report on the Physical Science Basis of climate change. The report pulls together the best scientific knowledge about climate change, and it’s clear that the situation is more dire than ever. Human-caused climate change is undeniable. Its scale and scope are unprecedented, and its impacts are already being felt. Significant climate changes are inevitable, and we need to do everything we can to stem the bleeding. 

At a bare minimum, every elected official should recognize the climate crisis and be committed to meet it head on.

That’s why I’m disturbed a climate denier, Cory McAnelly, is running to unseat Josh Mandelbaum, a climate champion on the Des Moines City Council.