 |
|
|
| 
 The 2009 National Teach-in on Global Warming is focused on the recommendations from The Presidential Climate Action Project. Based out of the University of Colorado, and directed by William Becker, the PCAP was convened in 2007 to produce a hundred day action plan for the incoming President and Congress. While the PCAP Plan contains hundreds of detailed recommendations, it highlights these four main action areas.
1. Cut Pollution 40% by 2020
To hold global warming to the low end, we need to cut emissions quickly in the US along with the rest of the developed world, sending the strongest possible signal to clean energy innovators and entrepreneurs that a low-carbon world is coming soon. Done right, cutting global warming pollution will raise the incomes of middle class Americans, while also setting the planet on the path to climate stability. A cut of 40% below 2006 levels in ten years is steep, but we can do it.
2. Green Jobs Now
With the global economy in a steep recession, public-private initiatives to re-tool America with clean, renewable energy can create up to 5 million new jobs. Efficiency upgrades, weatherization, solarization, rebuilding our transmission infrastructure, investing in high speed rail, wind and sustainable biofuels, all create jobs that cannot be offshored, and that can provide pathways out of poverty. Can we afford to do this? Can we afford not to?
3. Lead in Renewables
Over the longer run, leadership in clean technology can power a sustained economic recovery. Solar and wind, smart grid technologies, geothermal and tidal systems, fuel cells, battery technology, hydrogen and sustainable biofuels: combined these new sources of energy will rewire the world in the coming decades. Leading American companies can support developing giants such as China, India, and Brazil, as they leapfrog over the dirty technology that fueled the first industrial revolution. The US has the wealth, the research institutions, the engineers and markets to pioneer the path toward a sustainable, secure future for people around the globe.
4. Carbon-Neutral Power for America
To help cut emissions, and spark new technologies, PCAP recommends permitting the construction of only those electric generation plants that emit no greenhouse gas emissions or are able to capture and permanently store them. The policy recommendations also end federal subsidies to old, mature energy industries—oil, gas, coal, and nuclear, redirecting the funds to speed development and deployment of clean energy technologies.
The 20 Page summary for citizens, focusing on these four areas, is available here.
The full PCAP Plan is available here.
From the Introduction:
“The bold steps America must take to prevent the worst consequences of global warming offer an array of benefits. Climate action is a powerful engine for new industries and jobs, a way forward on the tough issues of global security and terrorism, the next challenge for America’s genius, the chance for an unprecedented public-private partnership, the catalyst for America’s re-emergence as a constructive leader in the international community, and an opportunity to give our children the legacy of a safe, prosperous and healthy future.”
PCAP Advisory Committee
Chair: Ray Anderson, Founder and Chairman of the Board - Interface Inc
D. James Baker, Former Administrator - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin. (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 Env. 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 Sch. of Forestry and Env. 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
TOP
|
|
|
|
|
