A mom and dad who should be proud

Dear Mr and Mrs Borah,

I am writing to tell you that you should be so incredibly proud of your amazing daughter. This is what I read about her in today's New York Times:

[The American climate envoy’s] statement to delegates from more than 190 nations at the annual climate conference was disrupted by a 21-year-old Middlebury College junior, Abigail Borah, who told the assembly that she would speak for the United States because Mr. Stern had forfeited the right to do so.

“I am speaking on behalf of the United States of America because my negotiators cannot,” said Ms. Borah, who is attending the conference as a representative of the International Youth Climate Movement. “The obstructionist Congress has shackled justice and delayed ambition for far too long. I am scared for my future. 2020 is too late to wait. We need an urgent path to a fair, ambitious and legally binding treaty.”

 Ms. Borah, who is from Princeton, N.J., added: “We need leaders who will commit to real change, not empty rhetoric. Keep your promises. Keep our hope alive.”

Scores of delegates and observers gave her a sustained ovation. Then the South African authorities threw her out of the conference.

That must have taken her so much courage to do that. She did a wonderful thing on behalf of us all. I feel as though she stood up for me, personally. Please tell her she is a hero.

Love,

Colin Beavan