A little over a week ago, climate scientists reported that atmospheric CO2 levels will, most likely, never reach below 400 ppm (parts per million) on average in our lifetime. What that means, in simplified terms, is that the damage we have done to our atmosphere is probably irreversible, at least in the near future with the current technology at our disposal. Even if we were to switch to 100 percent renewable energy tomorrow, carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere will not budge for decades, even centuries, to come.

Humans broke yet another threshold in global warming. Out of the 16 years in the 21st century, 15 of them have broken temperature records. The ice caps are melting, species are dying, but nothing changes. Many people reasonably question why nothing is being done.

Over 75 percent of millennials believe climate change is real, and a majority of that percentage believe something, anything, needs to be done to help get it under control. For some millennials, like myself, supporting environmental reform and renewable energy policies is a difficult issue. For us, it is a constant, back-and-forth struggle.

That's because millions of American families work for or rely on the oil and gas companies that currently power this planet. It's our lobbyists that are preventing environmental reform or renewable energy policy from passing Congress. It's our representatives voting "no" on climate change initiatives.

For me, oil and gas production gave me everything I have today, and it's really difficult to despise something that has helped you and your family out so much. It's a constant tension between protecting my own and protecting the environment, an increasingly difficult decision to cope with as global warming continues to worsen.

I advocated, for the longest time, a gradual decrease in oil and gas production. Protect the current jobs millions of Americans have, but prevent future ones from developing. As time progresses and nothing changes, a slow decline becomes more and more impossible. I don't want future children witnessing their fathers getting laid off from the plant, but I don't want future children dying from air pollution either.

I fear one of the two will happen eventually, because, as the recent atmospheric CO2 levels warn, sometimes it gets to a point where things become irreversible.

So, if you meet an American who is not thrilled about climate change or renewable energy, give them the benefit of the doubt. While I generally support climate change legislation and renewable energy initiatives, I will immediately lobby for the oil companies if my family's livelihood is at stake.

For most millennials, it's a non-debatable issue. For me, and many others, it is. Respect that, even if you think it's foolish or unfathomable to even consider supporting fossil fuels.