One of the most important challenges facing the 44th President – arguably the most important challenge – will be to quickly and effectively address the three interrelated problems of climate change, energy stability and national security.

Leading climate experts estimate that the international community has 10 years to make dramatic changes in greenhouse gas emissions if we wish to avoid the worst consequences of global warming. A similar need for action in the next decade is being created by the growing international competition for oil, the approaching peak in world petroleum production and America’s increasing dependence on oil from unstable or hostile regions. Left unaddressed, these problems may create unprecedented economic and environmental hardships and increasing global tensions.¹

By the time the 44th President takes office, the window of opportunity to prevent these crises will be one-third gone. The people of the United States, as well as other nations, will be looking for an early indication of whether the President intends to lead the world’s largest energy-consuming and greenhouse-gas emitting nation on a responsible course of action.

To help the President launch effective Federal leadership on these issues, the University of Colorado and several partner organizations are engaging the nation’s science, policy, business and civic leaders to produce a Presidential Climate Action Plan (PCAP).

The plan will contain a broad menu of policy and program recommendations for the President, rather than advocating a particular policy. It will be announced early in 2008. During 2007-2008, the project will operate a web site that offers resource documents and background information on climate policy to assist the Presidential candidates in forming their climate-action commitments.

1. “Peaking of World Oil production: Impacts, Mitigation & Risk Management”, Hirsch, Bezdek and Wendling, February 2005, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy

• Engage the best thinking of America’s leaders in government, science and civil society to identify actions that will empower all elements of society to meet the challenges of energy security and climate change;
• Define achievable but effective greenhouse gas reduction goals and timeframes for the United States;
• Create a sound portfolio of action options, including policies, programs, statutory and regulatory changes, and budget and staffing options for the 44th President and the 111th Congress;
• Collaborate with many of the multiple efforts underway to improve the nation’s energy economy, GHG emissions profile and national security so that collectively, respective efforts will result in a more effective whole;
• Set the stage for candidates running for public office in 2008 to take positions on specific proposals to address climate, energy and national security;
• Focus the nation’s attention and catalyze concrete action on the most important issues of our time.

The Presidential Climate Action Plan will consist of four parts: 1) goals and milestones for reducing U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; 2) actions the President can take under his/her executive authority during the first 100 days in office; 3) actions for the Administration's first 1,000 days in office; and 4) initiatives the President can include in his/her first budget and legislative package to Congress.
 
The PCAP will not be prescriptive; rather, it will consist of a menu of action options, each accompanied by an estimate of its impact on GHG emissions to the degree possible. This will allow the President to create an action plan of his/her choosing, while meeting recommended targets for GHG emission reductions.

Action options in the PCAP will include changes in Federal programs, policies, budgets, statutes and regulations, subsidies and incentives, agency authorities and personnel. The PCAP also will include actions to improve the energy efficiency and GHG emissions profile of the Federal government itself -- the nation’s largest energy consumer and due to its size, a potential market-shaper for low-carbon products and services.

1. Identification of and peer review by climate experts, business leaders, local government leaders, national security experts and other key stakeholders of the best existing proposals and innovative ideas to mitigate and adapt to global warming;²
2. Goals for U.S. greenhouse gas reductions by 2050 and the milestones the nation can achieve from 2010 to 2050;
3. Quantification of the greenhouse gas emission impacts of each proposed action, where possible;
4. White papers by experts in energy policy, national security and climate stabilization, to create the context for national leadership;
5. A new “calculator” that will allow decision-makers to assess the full life-cycle impacts of  energy options, including such factors as net energy and net carbon benefits, economic and job impacts, and impacts on ecological services;  
6. A searchable web-based data base of climate action ideas from nongovernmental organizations and leading states and nations;
7. Innovative new ideas for effective climate action;
8. A “Who’s Who in Climate Action”, listing top U.S. climate experts in science, policy and communications to help presidential candidates identify sources of reliable information and to serve as a “talent pool” for possible appointments to key climate-related positions in the next Administration;
9. A web-based feature that allows people to submit a “Memo to the President” with suggestions for national climate leadership;
10. A web-based library of policy papers and other background materials that will assist the Presidential candidates and the President-elect in formulating their positions on climate action.

2. This process already has begun with the National Leadership Summits for a Sustainable America, a series of four conferences of leading Americans in 2006 and 2007 to create action items on energy policy, natural resource stewardship and sustainable community development

The Presidential Climate Action Project is administered by a team based at the University of Colorado School of Public Affairs in Denver. That team consists of:

• William S. Becker , Executive Director, PCAP » [biography] [email]


• Diane Carman, Communications Director, School of Public Affairs » [biography] [email]


• Morgan Pitts, Research Director, PCAP » [biography] [email]


• Laurette Reiff, Project Coordinator, PCAP » [biography] [email]

Many organizations have contributed research to the plan. Among those were the Center for Energy and Environmental Security at the University of Colorado Boulder Law School; the Center for Neighborhood Technology in Chicago; the Alliance to Save Energy in Washington, D.C.; and Natural Capitalism Solutions Inc. in Boulder. The project also drew on action items proposed during four expert summits organized by Becker and the Johnson Foundation over the past two years.

The PCAP is funded by grants from foundations and individuals. To support the project, please click the following link and choose:
"Presidential Climate Action Project Fund
http://www.cufund.org/giveonline/index.php?ID=114

The PCAP Advisory Committee is chaired by Ray Anderson, Founder and Chairman of the Board - Interface Inc.

Members include:
D. James Baker - Former Administrator - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Scott Bernstein - President - Center for Neighborhood Technology

April Bucksbaum - Vice President - The Baum Foundation

Brian Castelli - Executive Vice President - Alliance to Save Energy

Dianne Dillon-Ridgley - Chair - Plains Justice

Boyd Gibbons - Immediate Past President - Johnson Foundation

Gary Hart - U.S. Senator (Ret.) - Wirth Chair, University of Colorado Denver

Sheila Slocum Hollis - Partner - Duane Morris LLP

Van Jones - Board President & Co-Founder - Ella Baker Center for Human Rights

William C. Kunkler III - Executive Vice President - CC Industries, Inc.

Hunter Lovins - President - Natural Capitalism Solutions, Inc.

Michael Northrop - Program Director, Sustainable Development - Rockefeller Brothers Fund

David Orr - Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics Oberlin College

John L. Petersen - President - The Arlington Institute

Theodore Roosevelt IV - Chair - Pew Center on Global Climate Change

Larry Schweiger - President and CEO - National Wildlife Federation

James Gustave "Gus" Speth - Dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University

Jeremy Symons - Director, Global Warming Campaign - National Wildlife Federation

Terry Tamminen - Cullman Senior Fellow and Climate Policy Director - New America Foundation

Admiral Richard H. Truly (U.S. Navy Ret.) - Former Administrator, NASA - Former Director, NREL

Heidi VanGenderen - Senior Policy Advisor - Colorado Governor's Office

A number of additional national experts have contributed ideas for the PCAP as participants in the National Leadership Summits for a Sustainable America.

The PCAP Advisory Committee provides invaluable guidance in selecting and framing the action items in the presidential plan. However, final decisions about the PCAP's content are made by the project's Executive Director. The Advisory Committee has chosen not to seek consensus on the PCAP's recommendations, in part because consensus is unlikely on so many action items and in part because as it aligns with the lowest common denominator among policy options, consensus can be the enemy of boldness. As a result, not all Advisory Committee members agree with all of PCAP recommendations. The Committee is unanimous, however, in supporting the need for courageous, comprehensive and timely climate action by the next President of the United States.