Help stop global warming now
From Environment Maryland:
With scientific evidence pouring in, even President Bush last week acknowledged the dangers of global warming in the State of the Union address. The facts are that we need to take action now to prevent the worst effects of global warming: New Orleans-like flooding of coastal cities, chronic drought caused by declining rainfall, and more and more destructive hurricanes.
Global warming is the challenge of our generation, and we owe it to future generations to take action. Your representative has the opportunity to do just that by cosponsoring the Safe Climate Act, a science-based measure that would reduce global warming pollution by 80% over the next half century.
Please sign our Stopping Global Warming Pollution petition, which urges your representative to tackle global warming by cosponsoring the Safe Climate Act. Then, ask your friends and family to help by forwarding this email on to them.
To take action, click on the link below or copy and paste it into your web browser:
https://www.environmentmaryland.org/action/global-warming/petition?id4=ES
Background
Global warming is starting to change weather patterns. Scientists predict that these changes will accelerate in the future and say that we can expect:
* Extreme weather. Scientists expect hurricanes to become more intense and say that the hurricanes that hit the Gulf states in 2005 may be an indication of what's to come.
* Public health risks. Scientists also expect heat waves to become more dangerous, causing more people to suffer heat stress and stroke. Other impacts include the spread of infectious diseases.
* Less snow, less water. Many of the rivers and streams that we rely on for our water supply are fed by mountain snow. But warmer winters are starting to cause less precipitation to fall as snow, which may cause serious future water shortages.
Most global warming pollution comes from burning oil, coal, and natural gas in our power plants, cars, SUVs, and factories. Power plants are the single biggest source, responsible for about 40% of U.S. global warming pollution. Because there are no federal limits on global warming pollution, industry can pump unlimited amounts of the pollution into our skies.
The good news is we can reduce global warming pollution by using existing technology to make power plants and factories more efficient, make cars go farther on a gallon of gasoline, and shift to cleaner technologies, such as hybrids, biofuels, and wind and solar power.
These are win-win solutions because they also will reduce our dependence on oil, reduce air pollution, protect pristine places from oil drilling and mining, and bring many other benefits.
Rep. Henry Waxman has introduced the first-ever science-based bill to stop the worst effects of global warming. The bill requires nation-wide reductions of global warming pollution of 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, the level of reductions the best science says are needed.
Please sign our Stopping Global Warming Pollution petition, which urges your representative to tackle global warming by cosponsoring the Safe Climate Act. Then, ask your friends and family to help by forwarding this email on to them.
To take action, click on the link below or copy and paste it into your web browser:
https://www.environmentmaryland.org/action/global-warming/petition?id4=ES
Sincerely,
Brad Heavner
Environment Maryland State Director
bsh@EnvironmentMaryland.org
http://www.environmentmaryland.org
P.S. Thanks again for your support. Please feel free to share this e-mail with
your family and friends.