One Small Step...For Global Warming
This post was written by Jesse Prentice-Dunn of the Sierra Club Green Transportation Campaign.
We've talked about needing an effort on the scale of the Apollo Project to launch a clean energy revolution. To follow that comparison, yesterday the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took one small step for bureaucracy, but a giant leap towards solving global warming. The EPA sent its finalized decision that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare to the White House for review and approval. This decision will put into law what has become quite clear – climate change is real, the threat is serious, and the time to act is now.
This ruling, when finalized, will recognize that emissions spewing from the tailpipes of new motor vehicles are contributing to global warming (they account for 20% of our country's global warming emissions) and lay the groundwork for new greenhouse gas standards for motor vehicles. These standards will reduce our dependence on oil, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and save consumers money at the pump. The decision will also allow the EPA to reduce emissions from other major sources of global warming pollution.
This may seem like old news – EPA has already proposed historic new vehicle standards and received coverage when it announced this endangerment finding – but there's more to it. The White House now has 90 days to review EPA's endangerment finding. It's now official, before the United Nations meet in Copenhagen to work towards a global solution to climate change, President Obama can finalize EPA's decision and show the rest of the world that the US recognizes the danger of global warming and is acting to stop it.
One other thing: When EPA announced that it had sent the endangerment finding to the White House, it mentioned that the agency received more than 300,000 comments from the public regarding the decision. This shows me that the public is engaged, people want global warming solutions, and the administration is listening.
Over the next few months, there will be plenty of opportunities to make your voice heard and, as EPA notes, make a difference. Right now you can send EPA and the Department of Transportation a message to make our vehicles as clean and efficient as possible, or stay involved through the Sierra Club's Big Picture Campaign to learn the latest on what actions the administration is taking to reduce global warming pollution. As the United Nations prepares to meet in Copenhagen, show Washington and the World that you want to move to a clean energy economy. It will make a difference.
We've talked about needing an effort on the scale of the Apollo Project to launch a clean energy revolution. To follow that comparison, yesterday the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took one small step for bureaucracy, but a giant leap towards solving global warming. The EPA sent its finalized decision that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare to the White House for review and approval. This decision will put into law what has become quite clear – climate change is real, the threat is serious, and the time to act is now.
This ruling, when finalized, will recognize that emissions spewing from the tailpipes of new motor vehicles are contributing to global warming (they account for 20% of our country's global warming emissions) and lay the groundwork for new greenhouse gas standards for motor vehicles. These standards will reduce our dependence on oil, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and save consumers money at the pump. The decision will also allow the EPA to reduce emissions from other major sources of global warming pollution.
This may seem like old news – EPA has already proposed historic new vehicle standards and received coverage when it announced this endangerment finding – but there's more to it. The White House now has 90 days to review EPA's endangerment finding. It's now official, before the United Nations meet in Copenhagen to work towards a global solution to climate change, President Obama can finalize EPA's decision and show the rest of the world that the US recognizes the danger of global warming and is acting to stop it.
One other thing: When EPA announced that it had sent the endangerment finding to the White House, it mentioned that the agency received more than 300,000 comments from the public regarding the decision. This shows me that the public is engaged, people want global warming solutions, and the administration is listening.
Over the next few months, there will be plenty of opportunities to make your voice heard and, as EPA notes, make a difference. Right now you can send EPA and the Department of Transportation a message to make our vehicles as clean and efficient as possible, or stay involved through the Sierra Club's Big Picture Campaign to learn the latest on what actions the administration is taking to reduce global warming pollution. As the United Nations prepares to meet in Copenhagen, show Washington and the World that you want to move to a clean energy economy. It will make a difference.
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