Environmental Coalition Calls on Presidents Obama and Hu to Acknowledge, Address Climate Crisis
February 17th, 2011by Beth Gray
In a January 19th open letter addressed to President Barack Obama and President Hu Jintao of China, a coalition of environmental leaders encouraged both presidents to acknowledge the current climate crisis and make it a priority to address the situation through mitigation strategies. Signed by representatives from 23 leading environmental groups (including among others Sierra Club, Earth Policy Institute, 350.org, Greenpeace, and Rainforest Action Network), the letter notes that the United States and China “dominate world carbon emissions” which has been a well-publicized fact.
The letter provides both leaders with daunting statistics that would make even the most skeptical environmentalists cringe. For example, signatories cite the World Health Organization’s estimate that the Earth’s warming climate contributes to more than 150,000 deaths each year. They further note that scientists predict that some 1/5 of all living species could be driven toward extinction by mid-century if the current climate situation is not alleviated.
The letter calls for a “wartime-like mobilization by the governments of the United States and China to cut carbon emissions 80 percent (based on 2006 levels) by 2020” and notes that if we are to reduce carbon emissions to 350 parts per million in the atmosphere (the level “top climate scientists” state is safe for humanity), such a “mobilization” must be quickly forthcoming.
