Thirty years ago when The Concord Coalition began advocating fiscal and generational responsibility it was already clear that climate change posed a serious threat to the planet. There was not, however, much discussion about how climate change might affect the budget. It is now increasingly clear that climate change is not just an environmental concern but a major economic and budgetary concern as well. Moreover, in our fieldwork, The Concord Coalition has found that younger audiences are very much attuned to this concern, and for good reason.

It is time to forge a new alliance between advocates of environmental sustainability and advocates of fiscal sustainability. In the long run, we can’t have one without the other.