Global Warming is an environmental issue that is continuing to harm our planet. The definition of Global Warming is “the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and oceans since the mid-twentieth century and its projected continuation” which means that if in the winter the snow melts faster than it snows then there has to be something wrong with Earth.
The technological and policy solutions for the climate crisis already exist. What's missing is something much more important but less tangible: innovative leadership.
Innovative leaders help us see what's possible. They bring us together and help us achieve more as a community than we ever imagined we could do as individuals. Martin Luther King, Jr, Abraham Lincoln, and John F. Kennedy understood this; they unleashed creative processes that helped us reach new heights, whether political, technological, or spiritual. We need leaders to help us move forward again, this time to solve the climate crisis.
Innovative leadership exists. For example, last year Florida Governor Charlie Crist signed executive orders requiring the state government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by ten percent by 2012 and by forty percent by 2025. His actions will lead to more efficient government buildings and vehicles and will increase the use of alternative energy. The new policies also have great potential to stimulate local economic growth in renewable energy and efficient building sectors, creating jobs and driving innovation.
In another example, Colorado voters passed a ballot initiative in 2004 requiring ten percent of the state's energy to be renewable. Building on this initial success, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter and the legislature signed new policy in 2007 that doubles the amount of renewable energy by 2020 for investor-owned utilities, and makes it easier to connect the new clean energy to where it's needed. They plan to double the amount of renewable energy by 2020 for investor-owned utilities and passed laws to make it easier to transfer electricity from renewable sources. This shows how leaders can promote policies that help solve climate change. It also shows how individuals working together can promote policies and help make a difference: Colorado voters were clear about what they wanted, and elected officials responded by making better policies.
There are many examples of innovative leadership in every region and in every sector. But we need more. To help ensure that our children have a positive future, we will need to support -- and demand -- innovative leadership at the community, state, and national levels.
As individuals, we must urge leaders to make climate change a priority. We must speak up for what we believe in and urge our leaders to pass legislation that will dramatically reduce carbon emissions and increase the use of renewable energy sources. Please join us today and help add your voice to this important issue.
Solving global warming isn't only about installing majestic wind turbines and glistening solar energy systems in the desert. One of the cheapest, most effective, and safest ways to reduce global warming pollution is to increase our energy efficiency. In fact, by using energy efficiency technologies and today's know-how, we could cut our global warming pollution by a third.
So why aren't we?
In the United States, we're off to a good start - innovation and improvements over the past 30 years have allowed our economy to grow faster than our energy consumption. Unfortunately, in the next 22 years our electricity consumption is expected to grow by 25%. That'll mean an extra 550 million tons of CO2 each year that we'll have to reduce to stop global warming.
The good news is that by aggressively improving our energy efficiency now, we can nearly eliminate this increase. It'll take leadership, but there are plenty of examples of how energy efficiency has worked. For example, people using energy-efficient appliances in 2007 avoided global warming pollution equivalent to nearly 27 million cars. If everyone did likewise -- and we similarly improved America's buildings, industry, and transportation -- we could reduce annual emissions equivalent to nearly 400 million cars. That's 2 billion fewer tons of carbon dioxide (more than 6,000 times the weight of the EmpireStateBuilding!).
Building for energy-efficiency: In the United States alone, buildings are responsible for 25-35% of greenhouse gas emissions. By making simple changes, like using the proper amount of insulation, we can save half of the energy it takes to heat, cool, light, and otherwise provide power to buildings. And, with buildings lasting for 40-50 years or more, efficiency choices we make now will last at least a generation.
Cutting fuel costs on the road: CO2 emissions from cars and trucks account for about one-third of all energy-related global warming pollution in the United States. Cars bought in the United States last year averaged only 20 miles per gallon (mpg), which is less than half the gas mileage available on the most efficient cars today and about the same as a 1908 Model T. We can do better than a car introduced 100 years ago. With American innovation and technology, we can offer all cars with much better fuel economy and the same level of safety and features we expect. And the opportunities are not just available for cars: heavy-duty trucks, which transport about 60% of the goods we buy and use 39 billion gallons of fuel every year, can also become more efficient. Effective gas mileage standards and support for innovative technologies will keep our transportation system moving while greatly decreasing our environmental impact.
Making new appliances more energy-efficient: By using energy-efficient products at home and at work, we can significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions without sacrificing function, style, or features. For the home and at work, we already have excellent federally rated EnergyStar appliances that are designed to use 10 to 50 percent less energy and water than other appliances.
In a nutshell -- buy the most efficient technologies available. Stop wasting energy at home, at work, and on the road. And importantly - ask your leaders to set new standards for efficiency for all sectors so that from now on 'best practice' in energy efficiency becomes normal practice for everyone.
We can help break our addiction to fossil fuels like coal and oil by switching to renewable energy. In fact, with upgrades to our electricity grid, the United States could meet all of its power needs, with renewable energy and support a significant portion of our transportation needs, too.
Wind Power: The United States added enough wind power in 2007 alone to provide electricity to more than a million homes. Texas is the fastest-growing wind power state and about 15% of the country has excellent wind, especially the Great Plains. Today's efficient wind turbines are sleek and powerful, and can be taller than the Statue of Liberty with blades longer than the wings of a Boeing 737. When connected together through a national grid, wind power could provide at least one-third of our total electricity needs.
Solar Thermal: Solar thermal power -- which uses solar energy to drive turbines -- already produces enough electricity in the United States for about 100,000 homes, but several utilities have announced projects to provide enough power for 10 times that many homes in the next several years. And, because solar thermal power plants can store energy to produce electricity at night, they can be installed in place of new coal power plants. Just a small area of solar thermal in the Southwest could supply all of the US electricity needs.
Solar Photovoltaics: States like California and New Jersey are already implementing programs to encourage communities to install solar panels in new homes, buildings, and even on parking lot roofs. Solar photovoltaics, which can now be integrated into roof tiles, have no moving parts and can even produce electricity on cloudy days. It will become more common as global installations of photovoltaics grow by an expected 800% in the next 10 years. If these systems were installed on all sunny buildings in the US, we could supply at least one-quarter of our electricity needs.
Geothermal Power: Today, the United States is the leading producer of geothermal power, producing enough electricity from underground hot rocks for more than 2 million homes. Experts say that we could have 15-30 times as much power over the next few decades thanks to recent advances in geothermal technology.
These technologies are just a few of the opportunities available today. All across the country and around the world, companies, governments, universities, and individuals are working to make renewable energy even more affordable and widely available.
The tide is turning toward renewable energy, but progress has been too slow. Individuals acting alone can't halt the 100+ new coal power plants currently being considered. And they certainly can't build new solar thermal power plants by themselves. That's why we need our leaders at all levels to do more to promote renewable energy.
Some government and business leaders are already taking a leadership role and considering the long-term costs of fossil fuels. Recently, three of the nation's largest investment banks -- Citi, JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley -- announced that they will begin using new climate-based principles when considering loans for proposed coal-fired power plants. This is a first step towards investors choosing efficient and clean alternatives -- which will create new jobs in important sectors.
To ensure greater adoption of renewable energy, each of us needs to urge our friends, utility companies, and government officials to more aggressively promote and integrate renewable power into all sectors of the economy. Together, we can stop the building of new dirty power plants and instead ensure that future energy projects take advantage of the clean renewable resources available. Please get involved today.
Throughout history, people have been a powerful force for positive change. That's because when people unite and call for action, change isn't just possible, it's inevitable. But no single person stormed the beaches of Normandy or ended slavery, and no single person will stop global warming. When we solve the climate crisis, it will be because of regular people like you and me. It will be because we, along with our neighbors, co-workers, and friends around the world, took a stand and demanded that our leaders make stopping global warming a top priority.
In order to create the kind of large-scale change required to halt climate change, we need elected leaders to implement policies and pass laws that promote renewable energy and support energy efficiency. We need companies to publicly support these policies and improve their business operations and product offerings.
In addition to making our voices heard, we can each make climate-friendly choices in our personal lives, whether by buying energy efficient appliances, switching to electricity generated by renewable energy, or taking public transportation. By taking these actions and by talking to our friends about the climate crisis, we are not only reducing our personal contribution to global warming, we're building support for additional progress at the local, state, national, and international level.
The good news is that we are already a million strong and have begun to make our voices heard. Before the UN Climate Conference in Bali, we urged people to contact the State Department to support stronger action on the climate crisis. Thousands acted and the State Department called us to let us know they were collecting the responses and reporting the feedback to the US delegation. We're going to build on successes like this to ensure elected leaders and companies take action now, not ten years from now when it's too late.
As people like you and I get involved, the future will become safer and cleaner for our kids. Innovation and imagination will be the centerpieces of our robust economy. This isn't mere possibility; it is the future we need to ensure happens. We must stop global warming -- we cannot afford to fail. Please add your voice today and be part of the solution.
Thousands of new companies, millions of new jobs, and billions in revenue generated by solutions to the climate crisis -- this is the clean energy economy we can adopt with today's technologies, resources, know-how, and leadership from our elected officials. Although our reliance on fossil fuels has created global warming, we now have the opportunity and obligation to begin a transformation towards a robust clean energy economy -- one that is supported by highly efficient industries, fueled by clean, renewable resources (like wind, solar and geothermal energy), and based on modern infrastructure and smart transportation planning.
A clean energy economy is a win for American jobs. A recent report showed that investment in a clean and efficient economy would "lead to over 3 million new green-collar jobs, stimulate $1.4 trillion in new GDP, add billions in personal income and retail sales, produce $284 billion in net energy savings, all while generating sufficient returns to the U.S. treasury to pay for itself over ten years."
Studies by leading research institutions have shown that if we invest in clean energy over fossil fuels, we will create more American jobs. A report released by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club, for example, found that thanks to the growth of wind energy, approximately 5,200 manufacturing jobs could be created in Iowa alone over the next decade. Additional studies have found that thousands more jobs could be created in other states that have suffered industry job losses and that welcome the opportunity to train workers for the new energy economy.
Even without strong U.S. leadership, clean energy is catching on around the world. Global investment in renewable energy climbed 25% in 2006 (from $80 billion to $100 billion). Three clean-energy industries—biofuels, wind, and solar photovoltaics—each surpassed $20 billion in revenue in 2007. Just last year, clean energy received $2.7 billion in US venture capital investment.
But, in order to fully transition to a clean energy economy, we need our elected officials to take action. Absent policies from government, the private sector may continue to invest in old-fashioned, polluting technologies. More than 70 coal plants without technology to capture carbon pollution are now being considered. If these projects go ahead, this will be billions of dollars invested in technology that is outdated and not “clean coal.” We need effective policies that unleash American ingenuity and innovation to propel growing clean energy industries forward.
America is up for the challenge. In the past two decades, the United States took the lead in the high-tech revolution, exporting trillions of dollars worth of products around the world and employing millions of American workers. We can do it again, this time with clean energy technologies, from solar panels to hybrid vehicles.
Each of us can play a role in bringing about this much-needed transition. Tell your business and elected leaders that the next generation deserves to grow up in a world powered by clean energy. Tell your mayor that you want city planning that encourages more efficient new buildings and sidewalks and bike paths that make it easy to walk or ride a bike. Tell your state and national officials to invest in energy grids that can deliver renewable energy to everyone. Tell your utility company that instead of old-style coal power you want to buy solar, wind, or geothermal energy. And tell your elected officials that you want national policies that encourage investors to make long-term commitments to clean energy.
This is the opportunity of our generation— to lead the transformation to an economy that is robust without causing environmental harm. Please get involved today.
The solutions to climate change exist. The technologies are available right now and there immense economic opportunity for expanding their use.The only real question is: On this page we will learn how we can solve the climate crisis and what you can do to help.
We can Repower America with 100% clean electricity within 10 years. Doing so would deliver the affordability; stability and confidence our economy needs, as well as help solve the climate crisis. All it takes is the political will to support national policies that…
Get the most out of the energy we currently produce
Rapidly deploy the clean energy technologies we already know can work
Create a new smart, integrated grid to deliver power economically from wherever it is generated to wherever people live.
"Climate Change is real and it's happening right now. We don't have a lot of time. The good news is that the solution exist. What's missing is leadership. We need our leaders to make climate change a priority. But none of them can happen if they don't know you care. Join us. Together, we can solve the climate crisis."
We Can Help America Make the Switch
Climate change is occurring now, and is already affecting our natural environment, our national security and our quality of life. But, there are effective, achievable solutions for addressing the crisis. An important step is to repower America by producing 100 percent of our country's electricity from energy sources with zero carbon emissions -- within 10 years. Making this switch will generate millions of good American jobs, cut energy costs, safeguard national security, and protect the climate. We need business and government leaders at all levels to help adopt policies and practices now that will enable America to switch to energy sources with zero carbon emissions. We need policies that encourage energy efficiency, renewable energy, and a unified national electricity grid.
We can repower America in a short time frame. We put a man on the moon in just eight years. We quickly retooled our factories to produce tanks, trucks and airplanes for World War II. We mobilized for civil rights and women’s suffrage. We've done this before, and we can do it again.
What "We" Do
We can help solve the climate crisis. We can switch America’s electricity to energy sources with zero carbon emissions – within the next 10 years. To succeed at this challenge, political will and leadership are essential. The We campaign, over a million strong, is a network of people from all walks of life who are acting now to help America make the switch and solve the climate crisis.
1. We invite you to join us. The continued growth of We -- our goal is to have several million members early in 2009 -- will compel leaders to recognize the need to repower America.
2. We get organized to bring about the policy and political changes we need to to solve the climate crisis. Will you take responsibility for helping us get organized in your area? It may mean recruiting people to join you, hosting a meeting or event, organizing a training, and reporting back to us on how it went.
3. We act together to help America make the switch that will stop climate change. Repowering America means that individuals, elected officials, and business and community leaders must take bold action to quickly switch to clean energy, curbing carbon emissions and helping to solve the climate challenge. We campaign actions will help persuade these leaders to act effectively now. When you commit to take action through the We campaign, we will help you by providing regular action alerts with both on- and off-line requests that may include:
Contacting your Member of Congress or other government leaders about helping America make the switch to energy sources with zero carbon emissions – within the next 10 years.
Contacting business leaders to encourage them to help make the switch.
Writing letters to the editor or attending a press conference.
Organizing and running a local meeting about Repowering America.
Contacting targeted local citizens with a persuasive message on climate change and recruiting them to join We.
