I'm humbled and excited to announce that Bill McKibben, arguably the top environmental leader in the world, has endorsed our campaign for Congress in Texas’ 21st Congressional District.

When describing why he's endorsing my run for Congress, Bill said:

"Derrick Crowe has long been active in the fight for a working environmental future, and now it's very good to see him enter the political arena. We badly need people like him who are willing to stand up to climate denial and help us forge a clean and prosperous future."

For those that don’t know, McKibben is a founder of 350.org, the first planet-wide, grassroots climate change movement. He is a winner of the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the “alternative Nobel.” His 1989 book The End of Nature is the first book written for a general audience about climate change. Foreign Policy named him to their first list of the world’s 100 most important thinkers, and the Boston Globe said he was “probably America’s most important environmentalist.” Bill is also a former staff writer for The New Yorker, a regular contributor to Harper’s and The Atlantic Monthly, among others, and is the author of 10 books.

Bill’s support is important because the 21st District of Texas is ground zero in the fight against climate change denialism in Congress. The current representative for this district is U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, who is the science-denying chair of the House Science Committee. Smith was recently busted sharing fake news to try to discredit federal climate science research, and has also recently written a brain-melting op-ed arguing that we should be thankful for the benefits of climate change.

I’ve been an organizer in the climate change movement for years, so Bill’s endorsement means a lot to me. I was part of the core team that established 350 Austin, the Austin-based chapter of 350.org. I’ve also recently gained national notoriety as a “science nerd” taking on “Congress’s most detested climate change denier,” according to Mother Jones. My platform includes support for real climate change action, Medicare For All, a $15/hour minimum wage, and tuition-free college. In Congress, the fight against climate change will be one of my very top priorities, with a goal of getting the U.S. to net-zero carbon emissions by 2035.

Bill's support offers some big momentum, but we've got to match it with the resources to take on the fossil fuel industry. Donate today to stand with me, Bill, and our grassroots movement to fight Lamar Smith and his Big Oil backers.

Derrick Crowe is a longtime DailyKos community member and a candidate for Congress in Texas’s 21st Congressional District. Learn more about his candidacy at electcrowe.com. Derrick doesn’t take corporate PAC money, so he relies on your support to win. You can donate online at https://electcrowe.com/donate.