From the RESECON listserv (see below) comes an opportunity to sign a U.S. Scientists and Economists' Call for Swift and Deep Cuts in Greenhouse Gas Emissions petition:
There is growing momentum in the United States to establish policies that cap and reduce our nation's heat-trapping emissions. A central feature of the policy debate—in Congress, in the international negotiations, and in statehouses and legislatures across the country—is over how swiftly and how deeply U.S emissions should be reduced.
A distinguished group of U.S. scientists and economists have come together to develop and endorse this Call for Swift and Deep Cuts in Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The core purpose is to ensure that this debate is informed by a powerful, succinct statement from top U.S. experts on the urgency of U.S. action, and the scale and feasibility of needed reductions.
The Union of Concerned Scientists is providing logistical support for this initiative on behalf of the signatories.
Here is the RESECON email:
I am writing as part of a group of scientists and economists who have come together to develop a statement calling on our nation's leaders to swiftly establish and implement policies to bring about deep reductions in U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases. The other organizers of the statement include Geoff Heal (Columbia), Stephen Schneider (Stanford), Jim McCarthy (Harvard), Mario Molina (UC San Diego), and Peter Frumhoff (Union of Concerned Scientists).
The statement, a brief description of its purpose and timing, and a list of many of the scientist and economist endorsers to date can be accessed at
www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science/2008scientists_letter.htmlI hope that you will take a few minutes to review the statement in the next few days, and - if you are in agreement - fill out the short on-line form to sign on: www.ucsusa.org/climateletter
If you are willing, it would be invaluable if you could also reach out to additional colleagues to encourage their review and endorsement. Once you sign on, there's a link to forward a personalized note of encouragement to colleagues on the web site.
Finally, here's a bit of information on how the letter will be used. It will be directed to national and state policymakers as well as to presidential candidates. It will be distributed to the media as an indirect yet vital way to reach decision makers, and it may also be used to help persuade influential constituency groups to publicly support strong climate action. Every member of Congress will receive the letter and full complement of signatures at a decisive moment in the national climate policy debate. The Lieberman-Warner bill (S 2191) is expected to come to a full Senate vote in June. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is also expected to craft its own global warming bill in the coming months.
Thanks for taking the time to review this. I'm confident that your participation would encourage many others to do the same. We're on a rather tight time-line for getting this completed, so anything you can do in the next few days would be terrific.
Don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
All the best,
Michael
===============================Michael Hanemann
Chancellor's Professor
Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics
and Goldman School of Public Policy.
Director, California Climate Change Center - UC Berkeley
207 Giannini Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720
home phone: 510-841-6443
cell phone: 510-693-2627
fax: 510-643-8911
