U.S. State of Climate Delivered to White House
The Presidential Climate Action Project (PCAP) delivered the State of the Climate paper to the White House this morning with a very impressive list of signatories. The list includes two Nobel Laureates, a number of the nation’s top climate scientists and policy experts, mayors, and business leaders. CNT’s President and member of the PCAP Steering Committee Scott Bernstein is one of the signatories.
PCAP is encouraging President George Bush to consider the assessment of climate change and policy as he prepares his State of the Union address on Monday, January 28, 2008. In releasing the report, PCAP regret[s] to report that the state of the nation’s climate policy is poor, and the climate and the ecosystems that depend upon it are showing increasing signs of disruption. Global climate change now threatens not only the environment, but also our national security, our economic stability, and our public health and safety. We can longer discuss the State of the Union without addressing the state of the nation’s climate.
CNT contributed to the Presidential Climate Action Plan that contains more than 300 proposals for new federal policies and programs to address climate change. Our research on transportation and climate found that reducing motorized trips is as important as cleaner cars: a 1% annual reduction in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduces roughly as much carbon as a 4% annual improvement in fuel efficiency. When we reduce our carbon by VMT reduction, it results in large cost of living savings for America’s families.
While the Presidential Climate Action Plan frames the agenda for the first 100 days of the next Administration, it is a resource that the current Administration could use to move the federal government into leadership domestically, and the United States into leadership internationally, on this urgent issue.
To read the final statement and add you name to the current signature list, go to the PCAP web site at http://www.climateactionproject.com/soc.php.
For information about the Presidential Climate Action Plan, read the full report here.
For more information on CNT’s Climate Program, visit www.cnt.org/climate.
