A Letter to the Next President
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Dear Senators John McCain and Barack Obama,
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For convenience and printing, the Letter to the Next President is also available in PDF format. |
In early September, images from NASA satellites revealed that the Arctic ice cap has become an island for the first time in modern history, showing the extent of global warming's impact on the North Pole.
On September 9, the U.S. intelligence community previewed its forecast for the next President. It concluded that the impacts of climate change are accelerating, and by 2025, droughts, food shortages and scarcity of fresh water will plague large swaths of the globe.
We are losing ground in the race for the future.
One of you will preside over the United States at a moment in history when we must act not as partisans, but as a human family that comes together as one in an unwavering commitment to embark on a different path.
We must act quickly to invest in a new energy economy that not only generates all the power we need while dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also produces millions of new jobs, new industries, new revenues and new opportunities.
Energy is a critical issue in the campaign, as it should be. But the focus must spread far beyond the price of a gallon of gasoline and the role of offshore drilling. The stakes are far greater. We need to transform the economy.
We are Republicans who need a Lincoln. We are Democrats who yearn for a Roosevelt. We are restless Independents in search of a leader dedicated to facing the most extraordinary challenge of our generation.
Americans demand and deserve strong action to secure our future and provide ample affordable energy.
We call on you as the next President to make the commitment that you will use your executive authority to the fullest possible extent and will press Congress for a comprehensive package of legislative initiatives to build a new American economy.
The legislative package must include a science-based limit on greenhouse gas emissions that will achieve a reduction of 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050 and significant reductions by 2020.
The legislation must reflect five critical domestic goals. They are to:
- Ignite America's genius for innovation;
- Expand employment at all levels to produce the technologies and goods America needs for a low-carbon economy;
- Rapidly increase energy efficiency in every sector of the U.S. economy;
- Develop clean, renewable, sustainable energy sources from coast to coast; and
- Help those individuals and communities that are least able to cope with the impact of climate change and climate policy.
We call on you to engage constructively in the climate-change negotiations under way at the United Nations, and to use the bully pulpit to mobilize Americans in support of this movement, as great American leaders before you have done.
We who have signed this letter represent business, industry, science, academia, military veterans, the investment community, the arts, the faith community — and Americans from all walks of life. It is urgent that the next President take bold and rapid action to address the daunting challenge of global climate change.
Our future depends on it. Time is running out.
Signatories
Jump to Current Signatories by last nameA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, Y
Daniel R. Abbasi
Director MissionPoint
Capital Partners
Martha Alderson
Kirkwood, Mo.
Jon Anderholm
Xun Biosphere Project
Jodi Smits Anderson, AIA, LEED-AP
Chairman of Local Committee on the Environment
Secretary of AIA ENY Director Environmental Programs
DASNY
Ray C. Anderson
Founder and Chairman of the Board
Interface, Inc.
Kit Batten, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow
Center for American Progress
D. James Baker, Ph.D.
Director
Global Carbon Measurement Program
The William J. Clinton Foundation
Carter F. Bales
Co-Founder and Managing Partner Emeritus
The Wicks Group of Companies, LLC
William S. Becker
Executive Director
Presidential Climate Action Project
Nikki Benoit
Outreach Coordinator
Florida Voices for Animals
Joy Bergey
Project Director
Pennsylvania Interfaith Climate Change Campaign
Scott Bernstein
President
Center for Neighborhood Technology
Mike Bertolucci, Ph.D.
Consultant to CEO
Interface, Inc.
Donna Blankmann-Alexander
Merritt Island, FL
Beth Blissman, Ph.D.
Director
Bonner Center for Service and Learning
May Boeve
350.org
Stephen K. Boss, Ph.D.
Director, Environmental Dynamics Program
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR USA
Michael Bowman
National Steering Committee Member
25 x 25
Philip Boxell
Environmental Lawyer
Adjunct Professor, Massachusetts School of Law
Susan Boyer
David Paul Brems, FAIA, LEED
Director of Design
GSBS Architects
Molly E. Brown
Geographer and Research Scientist
NASA
Vivian Buckingham
Policy Director
1Sky
Joyce M. Budai, Ph.D.
Senior Program Officer
Great Lakes Colleges Association
Paul Burman
Communications Manager
Carbonfund.org Foundation
Mike Burnett
Executive Director
The Climate Trust
Ernest Callenbach
Author of Ecology: A Pocket Guide and
Ecotopia
Eric Carlson
Founder and Executive Director
Carbonfund.org
Chip Caruana
Account Executive
Concerned Parent
Mark A. Chandler, Ph.D.
Associate Research Scientist, Columbia University President
Svante Scientific, Inc.
Chevy Chase
Actor
Co-Founder, Center for Environmental Education
Jayni Chase
Co-Founder
Center for Environmental Education
Steve Cochran
Director
National Climate Campaign Environmental Defense Fund
Elizabeth (Libby) Comeaux, Esq.
Independent Scholar
Craig Comstock
www.bookcreationcoach.com
Leila Conners
Presidentm, Tree Media Group
Director/Writer/Producer, "The 11th Hour"
Sharon Crespi
Writer
Concerned citizen
Lester Crown
Chairman
Henry Crown and Company
James S. Crown
President
Henry Crown and Company
Sr. Gayle Crumbley
RGS National Coordinator
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
Mary Ann Cunningham, SL
Loretto Women's Network Sisters of Loretto Community
Dorothy Cutting
Director; West Coast Climate Equity
Wanda M Daehlin
Eric Daniels, Ph.D.
Hydrogeologist, concerned citizen
Heidi Davison
Mayor
Athens, Georgia
R. Laurence Davis, Ph.D.
Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of New Haven
Maryann Moise Derwin
Mayor
Town of Portola Valley, Calif.
Dianne Dillon-Ridgley
Chair
Plains Justice
Stephen C. Duggan
Executive Vice President
Trinity Wall Street
James L. Elder
Director
The Campaign for Environmental Literacy
Jane Elder
President
Jane Elder Strategies, LLC
Penny Ellis
Jefferson, Ohio
Nick Enge
Author, "Positive Sustainability"
Jeremy Faludi
Green Design Strategist, Faludidesign.com
Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University Contributing Editor, Worldchanging.com
Brian J. Farragher, MBA, LMSW
Ira Feldman
President and Senior Counsel
Greentrack Strategies
Maureen Fiedler, SL, Ph.D.
Host of Interfaith Voices on Public Radio
Jesse Fink
Managing Director
MissionPoint Capital Partners
Richard Fireman, M.D.
Founder
Sustainable WNC
Teresa Foster
MA Environmental Leadership Candidate 2009
Naropa University
Kevin C. Foy
Mayor
Chapel Hill, N.C.
Stuart Fraser
Mayor
Telluride, Colo.
Hon. Sandra L. Frankel
Supervisor, Town of Brighton
Rochester, N.Y.
Dora Nadine Fry
Cindy Funkhouser
Freelance Virtual Assistant
St. Petersburg, Fla.
Barak Gale
Optometric Physician
Seattle, WA
Boyd Gibbons
Immediate Past President, The Johnson Foundation
Spring Green, Wisc.
Alaine Ginocchio, Esq.
Former Project Director
Center for Energy and Environmental Security
University of Colorado Law School
Jesse Glickstein
Executive Director
Faiths United for Sustainable Energy (FUSE)
Scott Goetz
The Woods Hole Research Center
K.C. Golden
Climate Solutions
Sherri Goodman
Former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security)
Kate Gordon
Co-Director
Apollo Alliance
Kathryn Gordon
Presenter, The Climate Project
M.A., International Environmental Policy
Keele University, Staffordshire, England
Seth Gottlieb
Northampton, Mass.
Anna Gouznova
Communications Associate
Waterkeeper Alliance
Bob Gruenig
National Tribal Environmental Council
Clifton Greuter
CEO
H-Plus
Rabbi Steve Gutow
Executive Director
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Kathleen Hadley
Executive Director
National Center for Appropriate Technology
Paul Haeder
College Professor
Spokane Falls Community College
Radio Show Host, KYRS
Colin R. Hagan
Federal Policy Associate
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Jessica Haller
Chief Operating Officer
Svante Scientific
Robin Hamaker
Environmental Health
Louisiana
James Hanken, Ph.D.
Director
Museum of Comparative Zoology
Harvard University
Dr. Marah J. Hardt
Blue Ocean Institute
Gary Hart, U.S. Senator (Ret.)
Scholar in Residence School of Public Affairs
University of Colorado Denver
Hal Harvey
ClimateWorks.org
Jenna Hollier
College Student
Susan Joy Hassol
Director
Climate Communication
Patrick Henry Hays
Mayor
North Little Rock, Ark.
Dennis Heinemann, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist and Vice President
Ocean Climate Change Program
Stewart J. Hudson
President
Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation
Professor Garry E. Hunt
Managing Partner, Elbury Enterprises Visiting Professor, University of California Riverside at Palm Desert
Past Professor of Atmospheric Physics, Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine, UK
Jonathan Isham, Ph.D.
Luce Professor of International Environmental Economics
Middlebury College
Nancy Jackson
Executive Director
Climate & Energy Project
Wes Jackson, Ph.D.
President
The Land Institute
Peggy McDonough Jan
Architect
Bruce Jennings
Director
Center for Humans and Nature
Raymond Johnson, Ph.D.
Institute for Climate Studies
Alison M. Jones
Executive Director, No Water No Life
Director, North American Nature Photography Association
Fellow, International League of Conservation Photographers
Barry Katz, CGP, LEED AP
President
Barry Katz Homebuilding, Inc.
Jennifer Kefer
Climate and Energy Program Coordinator
Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL)
David Kowalski, Ph.D.
Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology
Roswell Park Graduate Division
University at Buffalo
David Kyler
Center for a Sustainable Coast
Bob Lane
Concerned Citizen
Joseph LaPenta
Keith Laughlin
President
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Gary Lawrence
Principal and Global Leader for Sustainable Urban Development
Arup
Barry Lehrman, LEED-AP
ASLA Policy Committee
Associate AIA
Manager of Sustainable Design
Parker Design International Architects
Adam Lewis
Aspen, Colorado
D. Livingston
Researcher, a Bali tree planter & topsoil producer
Accelerate Carbon & Food Storage Enterprise
L. Hunter Lovins, Esq.
President
Natural Capitalism Solutions, Inc.
Sandra Dihlmann Lunday
Instructor, Coconino Community College
Michael MacCracken, Ph.D.
Chief Scientist for Climate Change Programs
Climate Institute
Diane MacEachern
Founder and CEO
Big Green Purse
Joanna Macy, Ph.D.
Teacher, Activist, Author
Patricia Jean Manion, Ph.D.
Member of the Sisters of Loretto
Christie Manning, Ph.D.
Environmental Studies and Psychology
Macalester College
Sharon Markenson
Teacher and Grandmother
Clifford Marvin, CCS, LEED-AP
Vice President and Education Chair
Construction Specifications Institute
Metropolitan New York Chapter
Michelle Masone
Senior Associate
Aspen Global Change Institute
James J. McCarthy, Ph.D.
Professor of Biological Oceanography, Harvard University
President, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2008-09
Maureen McCormack, SL, Ph.D.
Member of the Sisters of Loretto
Mary Ellen McElroy
Member of the Sisters of Loretto
Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn
U.S. Navy, (Ret.)
Agnes C. McKeon
Attorney
New York, N.Y.
Andrew J. McKeon
Principal, carbonRational
Adjunct Professor, NYU Polytech
Bill McKibben
Author
Patrick McLaughlin AIA LEED-AP
Architect
Deborah McNamara
Director of Business Partnerships
Northwest Earth Institute
John Medlock
Concerned Grandparent
(Retired)
Mike Mercer
Executive Director
Northwest Earth Institute
Liore Milgrom-Elcott
Project Manager
Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life
Clio Miller, AAIA, LEED AP
GSBS Architects
Wendy Ellison Mullen, Ph.D.
Dr. Louise Mygatt
Nick Nacca
Photographer
Member-Adventure Cycling Association
John Nettleton
Senior Lecturer, City and Regional Planning
Cornell University
Bonnie Nickel
Co-Founder
Sarasota Network for Climate Action
Stacy Noland
Founder & CEO
Moontown Foundation
Michael Northrop
Program Director
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Dani Novak
Mathematics Teacher
Ithaca College
Kyle O'Brien
Chief Executive Officer
Field2Base, Inc.
Michael J. O'Brien
Mayor
City of Warren, Ohio
Eric A. Oches, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Geology and Environmental Sciences
Bentley College
Michael D. Orr
Program Manager
Salesforce.com
Vanessa Oquendo
Starksville, Miss.
David W. Orr, Ph.D.
Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics
Oberlin College
Joyce Orsini, Ph.D.
Director
The Deming Scholars MBA Program
Fordham University Graduate School of Business
Malarie C. Pearce
Purdue Student
Landscape Architect
Concerned American
John L. Petersen
Founder and President
The Arlington Institute
Matthew Petersen
President and CEO
Global Green USA
Kitty Piercy
Mayor
Eugene, Ore.
Len Pipkin
Committee Chair: Education and Outreach
Arkansas Wind Working Group
Captain Stephen T. "Tim" Quigley, Jr., USN (Ret.)
Executive Director
Volunteer Center of Silicon Valley, Inc.
Gipsie B. Ranney, Ph.D.
Statistical and Organizational Consultant
Carolyn Raffensperger, M.A., J.D.
Executive Director
Science and Environmental Health Network
Paul Reale
BCC Partners
Alexandra Rome
Tim Rumage
Coordinator, Environmental Studies
Ringling College of Art and Design
Ringling College - changing the way the world thinks about art and design
Emily Sadigh
Board
Young Women Social Entrepreneurs-SF
Susan L. Sakmar, Esq.
Board of Directors, The Jane Goodall Institute
Adjunct Professor of Law, University of San Francisco School of Law
Rabbi David Saperstein
Director
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Rob Sargent
Energy Program Director
Environment America
Cindy Saylor
Artist, Mother, Bioneer
Cynthia Sarthou
Executive Director
Gulf Restoration Network
Auden Schendler
Executive Director, Sustainability
Aspen Skiing Company
Iain Schlenkermann
Facility Manager
American Public University System
American Military University
Todd Schongalla
Sant Bani School
Larry Schweiger
President and CEO
National Wildlife Federation
Amy Seidl, Ph.D.
Associate Director
LivingFuture Foundation
Truman Semans
Board of Directors
The National Climate Trust
David E. Setzer
Director, Future Business Planning (Ret.)
Bell Laboratories
Michael Sevigny
Wildlife Manager
Roger and Susan Shamel
Global Warming Education Network
Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd
Associate Professor Department of Geography/Atmospheric Sciences
University of Georgia
Gautham Sherigar
IT Consultant
Richard Shomo
Team Denim
Harriet Shugarman
President
AE Jennis and Associates
Esteban Silva
Web Designer, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Katherine Silverthorne
U.S. Climate Action Network
Janna Six
Alliance for Sustainable Colorado
Cole Sonafrank
Assistant Director of Research
Cold Climate Housing Research Center
Dr. A. Ann Sorensen
Senior Director, Research/Information
American Farmland Trust
James Gustave Speth
Dean, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
Yale University
Staff and Members of Holy Spirit Convent, San Antonio, Texas
Florita Burke, SHSp Veronica Cahill, SHSp Verna Cavanaugh, Staff Dympna Clarke, SHSp Mary Ferdinand Connerney, SHSp Bertha Dempsey, SHSp Beatrice Donnellan, SHSp Mary Fagan, SHSp Maureen Finnerty, SHSp Mary Garcia, Staff Monica Gavin, SHSp Mary Greene, SHSp Betty Higgins, SHSp Maria Leonard, SHSp Rosetta Leonard, SHSp Mary Annette McHugh, SHSp Laura Melody, SHSp Elizabeth Anne Moran, SHSp Jo Murray, SHsp Marian Murray, SHSp Rita Nealon, SHSp Beatriz Rios, Staff Katrina Ruane, SHSp Ma. Vera Ruane, SHSp Maura Scarry, SHSp Kathleen Mary Walsh, SHSp Patricia Walsh, SHSp Fanny Wright, Staff
Lily Stroud
Recent Graduate and Hopeful Environmental Steward
Jill Sughrue
Sustainability Consultant
Sustain NW LLC
Shino Tanikawa
Presenter
The Climate Project
Ellen Thompson
Volunteer Activist
Suncoast Sierra Club
John Topping
President
The Climate Institute
Pamela Torliatt
Mayor
City of Petaluma, Calif.
Rev. David Baumgart Turner
Masters of Divinity, Ordained minister, United Church of Christ
Co-founder of Hawaii Interfaith Power and Light
James R. Vallone, MBA
Columbia University
Heidi VanGenderen
Camco Global
Steve Varon
Chief Executive Officer
Tippingpoint Energy
Art von Lehe
Project Manager, Climate and Energy Program
Coastal Conservation League
Walter C. Vredeveld
Private Citizen
Scoutmaster - BSA
Robin Bedell-Waite
El Sobrante, CA
T.W.Wanick (Hon)
Founder & Chairman of the Board
Brazil Green Building Council
SHARE - International Foundation for Sustainable and Harmonious Earth (PA, USA)
Founder
Jeremiah Watterson
Concerned father of a 1 year old
Julie Watkins
The Girls Gone Green
Joe Weinhoffer
Graduate of West Point Military Academy
MBA, Columbia University
Carol Werner
Executive Director
Environmental and Energy Study Institute
James Wheaton
President, Environmental Law Foundation
Founder and Senior Counsel, First Amendment Project
Visiting Lecturer, Stanford Graduate School of Communication
Visiting Lecturer, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism
Advisor, California State Bar Environment Section
Executive Committee Trustee, River Network
James White, Ph.D.
Director, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR)
Professor, Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies
University of Colorado
Wendy Bryce Wilhelm
Professor of Marketing
Western Washington University
John F. Williams
Senior Vice President
National Director, Sustainable Development
HDR Engineering, Inc.
Myron Willson, AIA
Director of Sustainable Design
MHTN Architects
Larry Winter, Ph.D.
Deputy Director
National Center for Atmospheric Research
Jeff Wolfe
Chief Executive Officer
groSolar
Annette B. Wrighton
MBA Program for Sustainability Candidate 2010
Maharishi University of Management
Michelle Wyman
Executive Director
ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability U.S.A.
Daphne Wysham
Fellow, Institute for Policy Studies
Director, Sustainable Energy and Economy Network
Paul Yoder
Park Naturalist
W. Scott Young
Global Portfolio Director - Energy Efficiency
Dow Building Solutions
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