While the Bush administration refuses to effectively combat climate change, also known as global warming, scientific evidence indicates that climate change could become as much of a global security problem as an environmental one, and that we can no longer ignore it.
A recent report from the Pentagon paints a worst-case scenario situation where abrupt climate change–i.e. climate change that could occur within a few years– “could potentially de-stabilize the geopolitical environment, leading to skirmishes, battles and even war due to resource constraints.” While the Pentagon asserted that the climate change scenario was not “the most likely,” they hoped it “would challenge United States national security in ways that should be considered immediately.”
One of the most important ways to address the global threat posed by climate change is to reduce heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants. Nonpartisan and prestigious panels like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the National Academy of Sciences have concluded that the majority of warming over the last 50 years can be attributed to increasing concentrations of these greenhouse gases generated by human activity.
Fortunately, Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman have proposed one solution that brings many different groups to the table. Their bipartisan Climate Stewardship Act would limit greenhouse gas emissions from major industries at the substantially lower year 2000 levels (5896 million metric tons) by 2010. The bill would also create a flexible market-based trading plan where industries that have met pollution quotas and have leftover pollution “allowances” could sell them to companies not able to meet the limitations.
When the bill was introduced in the House, Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut stated “the Climate Stewardship Act charts a new, more responsible course on climate policy and reflects a cognizance of the very real threat global warming poses to our Nation and the rest of the world.”
We have a unique opportunity to pass a consensus-based policy that will reduce air pollution and make our planet more secure in the long run. Last year we were only eight votes shy of winning. Please tell your Senators to support this bill today!