GLOBAL WARMING. Impacts, Solutions, Actions

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1 GLOBAL WARMING Impacts, Solutions, Actions

3 Bob Martinka

4 Why Audubon? Global warming poses the greatest threat to biological diversity in human history. Photo: Bob Martinka

5 At Risk

6 At Risk Bob Martinka

7 Why Audubon? Why Should We Care? What Can We Do About It? Do My Actions Really Matter? Solutions and Silver Linings Photo: Bob Martinka

8 What s At Risk?

9 Everything

Number of scientific studies dealing with climate change published in scientific journals between 1993 and 2003: Number disagreeing with the

10 Number of scientific studies dealing with climate change published in scientific journals between 1993 and 2003: Number disagreeing with the global consensus that greenhouse gas pollution has caused most of the warming of the last 50 years: Science, December 3, 2004 Vol. 306, Issue 5702,1686

11 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report Over 1,200 authors 2,500 scientific expert reviewers from more than 130 countries

12 Increased Storm Frequency and Intensity IPCC Fourth Assessment Key Findings

13 Greenland Seasonal Ice Melt Source: 2005 ACIA

14 Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding IPCC Fourth Assessment Key Findings

15 Increasing Risk of Catastrophic Fires

16 More Invasive Species

17 Increased Drought

18 Economic Toll The Economic Toll Global Warming impacts will cost 20 times more than reducing our emissions now.* * 2007 Report by British Treasury Secretary Nicholas Stern

19 The Human Toll 100s of millions of environmental refugees in this century* Increase in air pollution Spread of tropical diseases Water shortages and contamination *United Nations Environment Program and IPCC 4 th Assessment

20 The Science, the Choices, the Benefits Have Never Been More Clear

21 The Most Important Crossroads Of Our Lives

We Can Prevent the Worst Impacts But We Need Action Immediately We must never submit to hopelessness in the face of this bad news. Quite the contrary!

22 We Can Prevent the Worst Impacts But We Need Action Immediately We must never submit to hopelessness in the face of this bad news. Quite the contrary! Our response must be to act boldly and to act NOW. US Senator Bernie Sanders, Burlington Free Press, My Turn: We can reverse global warming February 2007

23 We Have All the Tools We Need Right Now.

24 Credit: John Decker We Need: Leaders Political We simply must do everything we can in our power to slow down global warming before it is too late. The science is clear. The global warming debate is over. -California Gov. Schwarzenegger

25 Individual - Every One of Us Can Make a Difference

26 Gigatons of Carbon We Can t Afford Business As Usual Reduction Wedges BAU Needed

27 2007 2%

28 What Do We Want?

29 We Want: Emissions Reduction 80% total reduction below 1990 levels by 2050

30 Federal Legislation Congress must pass strong, comprehensive global warming and energy legislation. WHAT WE NEED - Cap-and-trade to cut overall emissions -A nationwide Renewable Electricity Standard to increase renewable energy use to 20% by Increase fuel efficiency for motor vehicles - Increase energy and water efficiency standards for appliances and buildings

31 Cap & Trade Limits emissions from a designated group of polluters, such as power plants. 2. Sets the limit (cap) for greenhouse gas pollution. 3. Polluters that exceed the cap need to reduce pollution. 4. Polluters that fall below the cap can sell pollution credits to other users. 5. Cap is lowered over time

32 Enact Nationwide Renewable Electricity Standards (RES) 20 percent by 2020 from wind, solar, and other clean renewables

33 The Benefits of a 20% RES Pollution reduction equal to taking 36.4 million cars off the road Creates 185,000 new jobs $66 billion in new capital investment $25.6 billion income to farmers, ranchers, rural communities $2 billion in new local tax revenues $10 billion reduction in electric and natural gas bills (growing to $31.8 billion by 2030)

34 Fuel Economy Standards 35 mpg by 2020

35 Save Gas, Save Money! Save 1.2 million barrels of oil a day more than half of what we import from the Persian Gulf. Prevent 200 million metric tons of CO² pollution. Save consumers more than $25 billion at the gas pump.

$24 billion spent on energy each year by the commercial building

36 Increase Energy & Water Efficiency Standards ENERGY STAR rated appliances save consumers 31 percent on energy bills. $24 billion spent on energy each year by the commercial building industry, which releases 18 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Saving water reduces emissions.

37 What Do We Need to Do?

38 Pass Federal Legislation Meet Your Elected officials in their District Offices Audubon Can Help You! Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT) meets with a constituent

39 Pass Federal Legislation Every call represents thousands of voters to a legislator. Phone Calls: Capitol Switchboard: Mail: The Hon. Christopher Coons The Hon. Thomas Carper The Hon. John Carney U.S. Senate U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC Washington, DC s: *Be sure to customize s when responding to alerts. Congress received 200 million s in 2004!

40 Pass Federal Legislation Write letters to the editor of newspapers and magazines. Start or participate in a global warming blog. If you have a story angle, talk with local reporters. Meet with editorial writers from your local paper. Ask Audubon for Help

41 Pass Federal Legislation Join Audubon s Action Center

42 Take Action and Vote Tell your elected representatives how important global warming solutions are to you.

43 Is Congress the Only Answer? NO! Individuals, Businesses, Communities Can Reduce Emissions Immediately Early Reductions are like Early Investments in Retirement the sooner we do it, the bigger the payoff!

44 Individual Actions Add Up!

45 Educate Others to Take Action

46 Take Action In Your Community Work with others in your area to: Help schools, businesses, and local governments cut energy use, buy green, and invest in onsite solar energy Make Smart Growth a priority and protect open spaces, farmland, and forests

47 Take Action In Your Community Support Smart Growth not suburban sprawl

48 Take Action In Your Community reduce water consumption increase recycling and plant and maintain trees to help reduce the urban island effect.

49 Take Action: Increase Energy Increase Energy Efficiency Efficiency Incandescent What s the difference? Compact Fluorescent 500 lbs of Coal 1,430 lbs CO 2 pollution avoided $30 saved

50 Take Action At Home The Easy Stuff... Replace Incandescent Bulbs Fix Weather Stripping and Caulking Stop Water Leaks Change your Thermostat Buy Local, Sustainably Produced Food

51 Take Action At Home A Little More Effort I. Buy ENERGY STAR appliances II. Dry clothes on a line III. Reduce outside irrigation IV. Buy less

52 Drive Take Less; Action: Buy Drive Better Less Cars Leaving your car at home 2 days a week =1,590 lbs of CO 2 reduction per year

53 Take Action: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Reducing half your household waste = 2,400 lbs. CO 2 per year Photo: Ian Britton

54 Take Action At Home The Big Stuff 1. Buy a hybrid or alternative fuel vehicle 2. Replace windows 3. Install solar or geothermal power 4. Vacation closer to home

55 Our Actions All Add Up 1. Help pass federal legislation to cut emissions 2. Reduce emissions at home, at work, at school, in your community 3. Convince others to Act 4. Vote for candidates and policies that will cut emissions

56 The Silver Linings of Taking Global Warming Action: Better air and water quality Clean energy/technology jobs Freedom from fossil fuels and pollution Secure energy independence More forests, farmland, wetlands, wildlife

57 Our Actions All Add Up Don t let your inability to do everything be an excuse to do nothing

58 A lot to do

59 A lot at stake

60 But We ve Done It Before

61 1910: Audubon Plumage Law

62 1971: Delaware s Coastal Zone Act

63 1972: Ban on DDT

64 1987: Montreal Protocol to Protect the Ozone Layer

65 We Can Do It Again!

66 If Enough of Us Get Involved

67 Make a Commitment to Take Action

68 Partnerships Are Important

69 It s Your Actions That Matter! Bob Martinka

70 For Delaware Information and Action Alerts

THE PIPA/KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS POLL.

THE PIPA/KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS POLL. THE AMERICAN PUBLIC ON INTERNATIONAL ISSUES PIPA-Knowledge Networks Poll: Americans on Climate Change Questionnaire Dates of Survey: June 8 14, 2004 Sample Size: 753 Margin