Maddie Phaneuf is a professional athlete and member of the United States Olympic Biathlon Team. She competed this month in Pyeongchang, South Korea. She lives and trains in Lake Placid, New York at the Olympic Training Center.

By Maddie Phaneuf

Biathlete Maddie Phaneuf of the United States trains during previews ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Alpensia Biathlon Centre on Feb. 6, 2018, in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea.

I fell in love with winter as an 8-year-old, when I started skiing on endless cross-country trails through the vast white forest of my hometown of Old Forge, in Upstate New York. I fell in love all over again at 15, when I picked up a rifle and began competing as a biathlete. In the years since, I have poured my heart and soul into being a professional biathlete.



Over the years I've gotten better, but sadly the winters have gotten worse. These days, New York is lucky to see a foot of snow last through the winter. Even in my own short life so far, I have witnessed the ski season shorten, with each bringing less snow than the year before.



As an Olympic qualifier and the 2016 US Biathlon Junior Woman of the Year, I have been fortunate to compete on world-class courses. Unfortunately, each season, more and more of these courses are manmade. This past winter, more than 90 percent of the places I competed at did not have enough snow to fill out the full course.



According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the average temperature in New York will only continue to rise and bring more rain, rather than snow, to the Northeast. For the future of our winters -- and the rural communities Upstate that depend on tourism -- it is time for New York to step up on this issue.



If we continue with businesses as usual and do not address climate change, we might not have winters anymore. Not only would that put an end to my career as a biathlete, but that would directly threaten the 313,000 jobs created by outdoor recreation here in New York. Our state's recreation economy generates a staggering $41.8 billion in consumer spending each year. Can we afford to put that at risk?



I would say no, we can't. Thankfully, and finally, it is looking like New York's political leaders agree. The recent news that New York City is divesting its pension from fossil fuels and suing Big Oil for climate change-amplified damages from Superstorm Sandy are a great way forward. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's recently announced clean energy agenda holds great promise to develop offshore wind and close coal plants. And, I'm proud New York is one of nine states taking part in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to drive down emissions and drive up demand for renewables through the nine-state cap and trade program.



Yes, New York is implementing solutions, but the threat of climate change is too great to say "good enough." Therefore, I call on Cuomo and state lawmakers to take a step further and commit to putting a price on carbon pollution in our state. Pricing carbon can fund the transition to clean energy by demanding that corporate polluters pay for the damage to the future of winter and the stability of our climate.



In addition to protecting our thriving outdoor recreation and snowsports economies, putting a price on carbon will expand renewable energy infrastructure, increase mass transit, improve air quality and public health, and help families save money through affordable energy and energy-efficient homes.



Without snow, we lose an intrinsic part of what it means to be a New Yorker, both the complaints about shoveling and the serenity of the season's first blanket of snow. The longer we wait to put a statewide price on carbon, the smaller the target we must hit. Miss this target and we don't just lose a game, we lose a winter way of life.



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