Once-in-a-lifetime storms devastate our region every year. Our skies are darkened by burning chemicals, as families are ordered to shelter in place and schoolchildren cover their mouths with T-shirts. Sick and dying animals are washed ashore from the same pollution that sends us to the emergency room.

Four fires in four months. Five floods in five years.

The mounting consequences of climate change and reckless industrial pollution are threatening our quality of life.

The promises of Houston’s economic prosperity have long come with environmental compromises. But Houstonians do not bear the burdens of those compromises equally. It's time for the promises to work for everyone — and that starts with actions that respect our shared home.

We must hold our leaders accountable.

We must demand that they enforce the laws meant to protect us.

We must refuse to live with pollution.

We must reduce our consumption of plastic and gasoline and move to a 100 percent clean economy.

We must grow a culture of respect for the air, water and soil we all share.

What can we do? The work to protect our shared home won’t all look the same. It won’t all happen at once. It will take all of us to turn this crisis around. And it can start here, right now, in Houston — our shared home.

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