-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Scientists say, "Thank-you, California."
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2002 11:54:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Union of Concerned Scientists Action Network <action@ucsaction.org>
To: anngeorg@pacbell.net
As you may already be aware, California has recently passed a series
of precedent-setting bills to encourage the development of global
warming solutions. These steps have positioned California as a
national leader on reducing heat-trapping gas emissions. This
legislation also demonstrates to other states that real solutions to
global warming are achievable -- both technically and politically.
We want to thank all of the UCS members who took the time to send a
message to your legislators urging their support for measures that
aim to reduce global warming emissions. Your voice has been heard and
was a critical part in getting California leaders to step up to the
plate on addressing global warming and its impacts on California's
health and environment.
To celebrate California's recent steps to implement global warming
solutions, a group of over 125 scientists -- including many of the
state's foremost scientists with expertise on global environmental
change -- have signed-on to an open letter to Governor Gray Davis and
California Legislators applauding them for their recent decisions and
encouraging them to continue their leadership on the issue.
A copy of this open letter -- titled "YOU'RE MAKING WORLD OF
DIFFERENCE: California Scientists Thank You for Leading the Nation on
Global Warming Solutions" --appears as a full-page advertisement in
today's (8/15/02) Sacramento Bee. The letter will be personally
delivered to Governor Davis, state legislators, and other relevant
public officials over the next few weeks.
We believe the sign-on letter -- and more importantly, the support
from the state's scientific community that this letter demonstrates --
will be influential throughout the state. Gov. Davis and several
other elected officials in leadership positions in the California
state legislature are interested in the scientific community's views
on the climate change issue. The scientists' sign-on letter lends
credibility and support to the policymakers who passed the bills as
well as to the officials who will have to implement these trend-
setting climate solutions. The letter and advertisement also sends a
signal to the general public that global warming is real and urgent,
and that solutions are at hand to begin addressing the problem.
*** YOU CAN HELP
You can make this sign-on letter even more effective by sending a
copy of the letter (and/or advertisement) to your state senator and
assemblymember. Just print it out off the UCS web site (information,
below) and pop it in an envelop. Please include a short cover note
identifying yourself as a constituent, articulating your agreement
with the letter's sentiments, thanking your elected officials for
their leadership on global warming solutions, and encouraging them to
do more.
** Copies of the letter, with a full list of signers, and the graphic
of today's Sacramento Bee advertisement (in pdf) are available on the
Union of Concerned Scientists web site, http://www.ucsusa.org/scientist_letter.html.
** The full text of the letter is below.
********************************
Dear Governor Davis and California Legislators,
As scientists from across the state with expertise in many
disciplines relevant to global environmental change, we, the
undersigned, applaud you for your vision and courage in implementing
solutions to global warming.
There is no longer any credible scientific debate about whether
climate change exists. Most of the warming of the past 50 years - and
continuing at least through this century - is likely attributable to
emissions of heat-trapping (greenhouse) gases from human activities
such as driving motor vehicles and producing electricity in power
plants. Fortunately, scientifically sound, common-sense solutions are
available that can significantly reduce those emissions.
California is already reducing emissions from passenger cars and
power plants=97in the latter case by producing and using electricity
more efficiently and by securing more electricity from renewable
energy sources. These actions demonstrate to the rest of the nation
that strong global warming solutions are both practical and
beneficial to our environment and our economy.
A number of scientific assessments for the state of California over
the past three years have shown that climate change poses serious
threats to nearly all aspects of California's economy and
environment. By reducing the Sierra snow pack, global warming
threatens already scarce summer water supplies, affecting farming,
ranching, and residential water supplies. Increasing rates of sea-
level rise will lead to faster and more widespread erosion of
California's beaches and coastline, will increase damage to the
state's coastal infrastructure, and will affect tourism. Global
warming is likely to increase air pollution and the risk of
wildfires, while requiring more resources to defend against human
diseases and crop damage. Climate and other environmental changes
will likely jeopardize some of our unique species and ecosystems; in
fact, we are already observing changes in plant and animal
communities on land and in our coastal waters.
In the face of these threats, California has taken important steps to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions by:
* Promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency
* Encouraging the development of a new generation of less-polluting
cars and trucks
* Passing legislation to reduce global warming emissions from motor
vehicles
* Creating an inventory and registry of heat-trapping gas emissions
We in the scientific community applaud you, Governor Gray Davis, our
State Assembly and Senate, and other leaders in California for
promoting and adopting these and other measures, and we urge you to
continue your leadership in achieving global warming solutions.
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