President Obama dedicated his June 29 Saturday weekly address to climate change. Near the end of his speech, he urged voters to consider climate change in voting for their representatives, at all levels of government:

If you agree with me, I’ll need you to act. Educate your classmates and colleagues, your family and friends. Speak up in your communities. Remind everyone who represents you, at every level of government, that there is no contradiction between a sound environment and a strong economy – and that sheltering future generations against the ravages of climate change is a prerequisite for your vote.

The media quickly made the climate-voting connection. The Washington Post headlined: Obama frames climate change as make-or-break issue in how Americans should consider voting , and The Hill likewise led with Obama calls on voters to demand climate action at the ballot box . (A note: Obama's address goes further than Organizing For America's, and my 2010, work in identifying climate deniers . The President wants voters to consider only those candidates who act on climate, not those who pay lip service in accepting the science but then delay action. That's a welcome distinction.)

Last Tuesday, President Obama gave a barn-burner of a speech, and he's backing it up with a detailed plan that's some things old and some things new, going as far as he can without Congress.

Ah, yes, Congress.

Climate change is the greatest challenge facing the next few generations of humanity. Nothing else will matter in a hundred years. Not student loan rates, postal service Saturday hours, or what Paula Deen said. And real action on it is being blocked by Congress.

At Netroots Nation, rising star Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) went further in urging voter action. He told a packed room that Democrats need to start treating climate as yet another issue that doesn't rank especially high, and instead make it our top priority.

Yes, there are cracks in the Republican "fortress of insanitude" - a sitting United States Senator has told me that three of his/her Republican colleagues are privately worried about climate change's impact on their home states' tundra, coastline, and corn. But it's going to take years for them to work up enough courage to confront their base on climate. We can't wait. In the meantime, those who won't act on climate change need to be voted out of office and replaced by those who will prioritize it.

With a partner, I'm setting up a voter accountability project, Climate Hawks Vote, to help elect only those Democrats who will prioritize the climate crisis. We'll educate voters on candidates' climate records; we'll back serious Democrats against Republicans; we'll publicize state- and lower-level races with climate/clean energy implications; we'll primary climate-friendly Democrats against fossil-fueled ones. Our backers include Darcy Burner, Van Jones, and Bill McKibben among others.

It's not acceptable for Democratic elected officials and candidates to take money from tobacco companies who profit from human suffering and death. It shouldn't be OK for them to take money from oil and gas companies whose business plan is to cook the planet.

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Climate matters. Vote accordingly.