An Open Letter From Scientists To President-Elect Trump On Climate Change

7 years ago Joshua S Hill 0 Comments
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More than 800 Earth scientists and energy experts have so far signed an open letter addressed to President-Elect Donald Trump urging him to take climate change seriously, and to commit to six key steps to address climate change.

At a time when a man who called climate change a Chinese hoax is set to be the next President of the United States, it is unsurprising that there is a general rallying cry throughout the climate and energy spheres. A day after Ivanka and Donald Trump met with former American Vice President Al Gore, more than 800 (and counting) Earth scientists and energy experts have penned an open letter to Donald Trump — the full text follows.

The letter urges Donald Trump to address climate change to help protect “America’s economy, national security, and public health and safety.” Every signatory of the letter are either pursuing or currently hold a PhD in relevant disciplines (with only a few exceptions for several leaders in their fields), and all are either American or currently work in the United States.

Published in tandem with the open letter is an accompanying public petition at Change.org.

To President-elect Trump

We, the undersigned, urge you to take immediate and sustained action against human-caused climate change. We write as concerned individuals, united in recognizing that the science is unequivocal and America must respond.

Climate change threatens America’s economy, national security, and public health and safety1-4. Some communities are already experiencing its impacts, with low-income and minority groups disproportionately affected.

At this crucial juncture in human history, countries look to the United States to pick up the mantle of leadership: to take steps to strengthen, not weaken, this nation’s efforts to tackle this crisis. With the eyes of the world upon us, and amidst uncertainty and concern about how your administration will address this issue, we ask that you begin by taking the following steps upon taking office:

  1. Make America a clean energy leader. The vast majority of Americans – whether Republican, Democrat, or Independent – support renewable energy research and deployment5. Embrace the enormous economic opportunities of transitioning to an energy-efficient, low-carbon society6,7. Use part of your $1 trillion commitment to infrastructure development to expand democratized clean energy, boost U.S. competitiveness, and put America to work8. Since 2008, the cleantech industry has created one out of every 33 jobs in the United States. “Wind technician” is the fastest growing job category in America, and the solar industry has hired more veterans than any other sector9.
  2. Reduce carbon pollution and America’s dependence on fossil fuels. The majority of Americans are in favor of this5. Assure them that the policies helping to cut greenhouse gas emissions, curb air and water pollution, and accelerate clean energy growth, innovation, and jobs – such as the Clean Power Plan, renewable energy tax credits, and auto-efficiency standards – will stay in place. Continued funding and flexibility of federal agencies to address climate change, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, are key to achieving these goals.
  3. Enhance America’s climate preparedness and resilience. In the past 5 years alone, storms, floods, droughts, and wildfires caused over $250 billion in damages10. As climate change continues to increase the frequency and severity of these extreme events, so too grows the burden on all taxpayers to pay for disaster relief and recovery3. Help protect and strengthen America’s communities, economy, and natural resources by investing in modern, climate-resilient energy, transport, building, and water infrastructure.
  4. Publicly acknowledge that climate change is a real, human-caused, and urgent threat. If not, you will become the only government leader in the world to deny climate science11. Your position will be at odds with virtually all climate scientists, most economists, military experts, fossil fuel companies and other business leaders, and the two-thirds of Americans worried about this issue1,2,12-15.
  5. Protect scientific integrity in policymaking. During your campaign, you said that your “administration will ensure that there will be [scientific] transparency and accountability without political bias16.” Uphold these standards by appointing scientific advisors, Cabinet members, and federal agency leaders who respect and rely on science-based decision-making. This would exclude many of your Cabinet and transition team appointees to date, who deny the scientific realities of human-caused climate change17,18.
  6. Uphold America’s commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement. Reneging from this treaty – the product of 25 years of negotiations between almost every country on Earth – would undermine our best chance to avoid dangerous climate change. It would also poorly represent the American people, the majority of whom support US participation in the Paris Agreement19. The United States will lose its seat of influence at the international negotiating table, and will cede to China, the EU, and other countries its authority as a political, technological, and moral leader20.

You have the support of the majority of companies, military leaders, scientists, engineers, and citizens to respond to the threats posed by climate change by reducing carbon pollution and expanding clean energy. Many of America’s largest cities and states are already committed to doing so21-23. We urge you to decide if you want your Presidency to be defined by denial and disaster, or acceptance and action.

Sincerely,

The full list of signatories can be seen here. 

References

  1. Howard, P., Sylvan, D. Expert Consensus on the Economics of Climate Change. Institute for Policy Integrity (2015). [link]
  2. Briefing Book for a New Administration – Recommended policies and practices for addressing the security risks of a changing climate. The Climate and Security Advisory Group (2016). [link]
  3. Crimmins, A., et al. The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment. U.S. Global Change Research Program (2016). [link]
  4. Molina, M. et al. What We Know – The realities, risks, and response to climate change. AAAS (2014). [link]
  5. Leiserowitz, A. et al. Politics and Global Warming, Spring 2016. Yale University and George Mason University, Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2016). [link]
  6. Climate Declaration. Ceres (2013). [link]
  7. Kammen, D. A letter to Mr. Trump: the economic case for energy, equity and climate leadership. UC Berkeley Blog (Nov. 15, 2016) [link]
  8. Sachs, J. D. Donald Trump and the Rebuilding of America. The Boston Globe (Nov. 13, 2016). [link]
  9. Shah, J. Clean Energy Jobs Are Exploding in America. Why Don’t Mainstream Reporters Know? Greentech Media (Sept. 2, 2016). [link]
  10. U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (2016). [link]
  11. On the Climate Crisis, It’s Donald Trump vs the World. Sierra Club(2016). [link]
  12. Cook, J. et al. Consensus on consensus: a synthesis of consensus estimates on human-caused global warming. Environmental Res. Lett.11, 048002 (2013). [link]
  13. Oil and gas CEOs jointly declare action on climate change. Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (2015). [link]
  14. Business Backs Low-Carbon USA (2016). [link]
  15. U.S. Concern About Global Warming at Eight-Year High. Gallup(2016). [link]
  16. Presidential Science Debate 2016. ScienceDebate.org (2016). [link]
  17. Bravender, R. Trump Picks Top Climate Skeptic to Lead EPA Transition. Scientific American (Sept. 26, 2016). [link]
  18. Kahn, B. What You Should Know About Trump’s Cabinet & Climate. Climate Central (Nov. 30, 2016). [link]
  19. Smeltz, D. et al. Growing support in US for some climate change action. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs (2016). [link]
  20. An Open Letter Regarding Climate Change From 376 Concerned Members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (Sept. 20, 2016). [link]
  21. Trancik, J. E. People are worried Trump will stop climate progress. The numbers suggest he can’t. The Washington Post (Nov. 21, 2016). [link]
  22. West Coast leaders’ climate change “resolve is strong” as COP22 concludes. Pacific Coast Collaborative (Nov. 18, 2016). [link]
  23. Garcetti, E. et al. Open Letter to President-elect Donald Trump on Climate Action. Medium (Nov. 22, 2016). [link]
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Joshua S Hill

I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

Joshua S Hill has 4403 posts and counting. See all posts by Joshua S Hill