US Business & Investors Call On Donald Trump To Address Climate Change

An open letter signed by more than 600 members of the United States’ business and investor community has called on President-elect Trump, President Obama, Members of the US Congress, and Global Leaders to back a “low-carbon USA” and commit “to addressing climate change.”

The open letter is part of the Business Backs Low-Carbon USA initiative which was started back in December 2015 with a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal urging US and international leaders to adopt an ambitious climate agreement in Paris. The new open letter boasts over 630 signatories from big-name Fortune 500 companies like HP, Starbucks, Nike, and eBay, as well as smaller family-run businesses, all gathering together to pile on the pressure to force incoming US President Donald Trump to step back from his damaging energy and climate plans.

This isn’t the first open letter put forward recently, hoping to challenge Donald Trump’s irresponsible policies. A group of more than 800 earth scientists and energy experts penned an open letter in early December to President-elect Donald Trump, urging him to take climate change seriously and to take six key steps to addressing climate change.

“We, the undersigned members in the business and investor community of the United States, re-affirm our deep commitment to addressing climate change through the implementation of the historic Paris Climate Agreement,” the letter starts.

“We want the US economy to be energy efficient and powered by low-carbon energy. Cost-effective and innovative solutions can help us achieve these objectives. Failure to build a low-carbon economy puts American prosperity at risk. But the right action now will create jobs and boost US competitiveness.”

The authors of the open letter call on US leaders current and incoming “to strongly support” the following three initatives:

• Continuation of low-carbon policies to allow the US to meet or exceed our promised national commitment and to increase our nation’s future ambition
• Investment in the low carbon economy at home and abroad in order to give financial decision-makers clarity and boost the confidence of investors worldwide
• Continued US participation in the Paris Agreement, in order to provide the long-term direction needed to keep global temperature rise below 2°C

“Thousands of employees and millions of sellers rely on eBay for their livelihoods, and that’s a responsibility we take very seriously,” said Lori Duvall, director of global impact at eBay Inc. “Part of this responsibility includes effectively responding to global climate change, both by wisely managing the carbon impacts of our business and by taking advantage of our unique opportunity to use our platform to enable a more inclusive and sustainable form of commerce, and advocating for policies to make the low carbon economy a reality.”

“HP reaffirms its support for the Paris Climate Agreement and the global efforts to address climate change,” said Nate Hurst, Chief Sustainability & Social Impact Officer at HP Inc. “We believe that working with like-minded businesses and governments, we can all reinvent how we do business and transition to a new low-carbon economy.”

“California has ambitious, clearly defined climate goals and is committed to acting as a global leader on this important issue,” said Melissa Lavinson, vice president of federal affairs and policy and chief sustainability officer at PG&E Corporation. “We support the state’s vision for a clean energy future and agree that we need to take action today to meet the challenge.”