GLOBAL WARMING

Impacts, Solutions, Actions

 Why Audubon?
Photo: Bob Martinka

• Why Should
We Care?
• What Can We
Do About It?
• Do My Actions
Really Matter?
• Solutions and
Silver Linings
 Why Audubon?

Global warming poses the

greatest threat to
biological diversity in
human history.

Photo: Bob Martinka

What’s At Risk?
Everything
 Increased Storm
Frequency and Intensity

IPCC Fourth Assessment Key Findings

Sea Level Rise and Coastal
Flooding

IPCC Fourth Assessment Key Findings

Increasing Risk of
Catastrophic Fires
 More
Invasive
Species
Increased Drought
 Economic
The EconomicToll
Toll

Global Warming impacts will cost

20 times more than reducing our
emissions now.*

* 2007 Report by British Treasury Secretary Nicholas Stern

 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 Assessment
th
 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

IPCC Fourth Assessment
Report

Over 1,200 authors

2,500 scientific expert

reviewers from more
than 130 countries
The Science, the Choices, the Benefits
Have Never Been More Clear
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! 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
We Have All the
Tools We Need
Right Now.
 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

Credit: John Decker

Individual - Every One of Us
Can Make a Difference
 We Can’t Afford
Business As Usual
Reduction “Wedges”

16
14
Gigatons of Carbon

12
10
BAU
8
Needed
6
4
2
0
1955 1980 2005 2030 2055
 2%
2007
What Do We Want?
We Want: Emissions Reduction

80% total reduction below 1990 levels

by 2050
 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 2020

- Increase fuel efficiency

for motor vehicles

- Increase energy and

water efficiency standards
for appliances and
buildings
 Cap & Trade 101
1. 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
 Enact Nationwide Renewable
Electricity Standards (RES)

20 percent by 2020 from

wind, solar, and other
clean renewables
 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)
 Fuel Economy Standards

35 mpg by 2020
 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.
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.
What Do We Need to Do?
 Pass Federal Legislation

Meet Your Elected officials in

their District Offices

Audubon Can Help You!

Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT) meets with a constituent

 Pass Federal Legislation
Every call represents thousands of voters to a legislator.

•Phone Calls: Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121

•Mail:
The Honorable ______ The Honorable ______
U.S. Senate U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20515
•Emails:
www.audubonaction.org/audubon
www.senate.gov www.house.gov
*Be sure to customize emails when responding to alerts.

Congress received 200 million emails in 2004!

 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
Pass Federal Legislation

Join
Audubon’s
Action
Center

www.audubonaction.org/audubon
Take Action and Vote

Tell your
elected
representatives
how important
global warming
solutions are to
you.
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!
Individual Actions Add Up!
Educate Others to Take Action
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
Take Action In Your Community

Support Smart Growth

not urban sprawl
Take Action In Your Community

…reduce water
consumption…

increase recycling and…

plant and maintain trees

to help reduce the
urban island effect.
 Take Action: Increase Energy
Increase Energy Efficiency
Efficiency
What’s the difference?
Incandescent Compact
Fluorescent

500 lbs of Coal

•1,430 lbs CO2 pollution avoided

•$30 saved
 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
 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
 Take Action: Drive Less
Drive Less; Buy Better Cars

Leaving your car at home 2 days a week

=1,590 lbs of C02 reduction per year
Take Action: Reduce, Reuse,
Recycle
Reducing half your household waste
= 2,400 lbs CO2 per year

Photo: Ian Britton

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
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
 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

 Our Actions All Add Up

“Don’t let your inability to do everything

be an excuse to do nothing”
 It’s Your Actions That Matter!

© Bob Martinka

www.audubonaction.org/audubon