GLOBAL WARMING—U.S. PIRG’s Emily Figdor (at podium) joins Sens. Boxer (left) and Jeffords (right) to announce the introduction of strong global warming legislation. Scientists say that reductions in global warming pollution of 80 percent by 2050 will be needed to stop the worst effects of global warming.

U.S. PIRG’s summer campaign for global warming solutions saw a great deal of success, thanks to the hard work of our canvassers, staff, summer interns and members.

Effective Bills Introduced
This summer, Rep. Henry Waxman (Calif.) and Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) introduced bills to mandate substantial reductions in global warming pollution.

Both bills require steep reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, calling on the U.S. to reduce its global warming pollution 15 percent by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2050.

To achieve these targets, the bills improve energy efficiency and encourage greater reliance on clean, renewable energy sources.

“These bills are good for the country. The result would be a cleaner, more sustainable foundation on which to build America’s economy for the 21st century,” said Figdor.

There are now more than one hundred cosponsors of the Waxman bill.

Congress Steps Up
In July, 40 U.S. senators from both sides of the aisle, spearheaded by U.S. PIRG, sent a letter to the White House calling for the president to stabilize global warming emissions within 10 years, the time frame leading scientists say is needed to avert the most devastating impacts of global warming.

Senators Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), and Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.), led the effort, saying, “Today, we are writing to express our continuing concern about the threats posed by global warming and our support for a mandatory program that would reduce emissions from today’s levels within 10 years.”

New Research
Leading scientists, such as James Hansen of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, have warned that we are nearing a climate “tipping point” and must stabilize emissions within 10 years to avert catastrophic changes to the climate.

Hansen recently said, “We have at most 10 years—not 10 years to decide upon action, but ten years to alter fundamentally the trajectory of global greenhouse emissions.”

Over the summer, U.S. PIRG released three reports detailing the effects of global warming pollution on our public health and climate. First, “The Carbon Boom,” an analysis of Department of Energy data showed that U.S. carbon dioxide emissions have almost doubled since 1960. The steep increase in emissions was largely due to increased combustion of oil in cars and coal for electricity.

In July, we released “Making Sense of the Coal Rush: The Consequences of Expanding America’s Dependence on Coal.” And in August, we released “Rising to the Challenge: Six Steps to Cut Global Warming Pollution in the United States.” This final summer report lists six challenging but feasible strategies that, if implemented, could achieve reductions significant enough to stop the worst effects of global warming while improving America’s environment and our energy security.