• Right now the atmospheric concentration of CO2 (mostly from burning so much fossil fuel) is at a dangerously high level -  390 ppm - and it continues to grow by about 2 ppm per year.  That's way too high, and it's why ice is melting, drought is spreading, forests are dying. To bring that number down, we need to immediately stop putting more carbon into the atmosphere. 

• But - current draft climate legislation sponsored by Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer is riddled with loopholes; subsidizes expensive, unsafe and unproven technologies (such as carbon sequestration); and does not go far enough to protect the planet.1  It does not commit the U.S. to meaningful, science-based greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed to protect us from runaway climate change2.

• What do we need to do?  We need to make a radical shift from coal and oil to non-polluting source of energy such as wind and solar.  But also, we need to be smart about how we use energy.  In 1945 we used 80% less energy per household than we do now.  Families heated the rooms they used most often and closed off the other ones.  They wore sweaters and walked or rode the bus or train rather than drive the car.  They ate less meat. They grew victory gardens and ate food grown near them. They shared with their neighbors.3   And we can go beyond these simple actions by making our buildings more efficient - by caulking, insulating and installing energy efficient heating and cooling systems.

• We know what we need to do and how to do it.  The science tells us how important it is. Solutions are there - waiting for the political will to implement them.  But will we act in time?  One recent event alerts us to what can happen if we do not take appropriate action.  Everything that happened in New Orleans was predicted long before Hurricane Katrina hit.  Read Gone with the Water, an article that appeared in National Geographic that was written in October 2004.  Our government knew the levees needed to be fixed but did not take the action required, gambling away people's lives.  Climate change is happening today, whether we like it or not.  Let's work together to avert catastrophe and preserve all life on this planet for the next seven generations and beyond!

1.  Friends of the Earth Statement on the Kerry-Boxer Draft Climate Bill.  September 30, 2009.

2.   Greenpeace Critical of Draft Senate Bill.  September 30, 2009.

3.  You Can Go Home Again. What I Would Like to Say in the NY Times.  Sharon Fisk.  Grist. October 23, 2008.