Al Gore’s call for a ten-year transition to carbon-free electricity raises the bar to the right place. Some people will describe this plan as too much, too fast, too radical–it only seems that way because everything that’s been proposed so far has been so feeble. This is the first real plan commensurate with the scale of the climate crisis.
And it sets the groundwork for what comes next–an international agreement just as bold. Al Gore is leading the most carbon-addicted nation on earth towards sanity. We need now to start in the same direction all over the globe, which is what 350 is all about.
To show your support for these ideas, send a letter to the editor of your local paper. Use the sample below if you’d like:
SAMPLE LTE
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Dear Editor;
Today Vice President Gore laid out a bold vision for how to confront the economic and global warming crisis facing the United States today. He called for America to take the steps necessary to move away from the fossil fuel based economy which has brought us to the brink of disaster, and toward a clean energy economy that will provide jobs, security, and opportunity while allowing us to be good stewards of the environment.
As VP Gore said, America should move quickly and decisively to eliminate global warming pollution from our electricity sector. Existing clean energy technologies such as wind, solar, and geothermal can give us the power we want without the pollution that is harming us, and growing the amount of power we get from these sources will create millions of new jobs.
America was once seen as a can do nation that was up to any challenge. That is a role that we should reclaim and embrace. [We have had some great successes combatting global warming in (state). The next president and leaders from (state) should build on these local successes]
We need the next president of the United States to embrace this opportunity and use his authority to introduce a comprehensive package of legislation that will pivot our economy to a clean energy economy and limit global warming pollution to the levels scientists tell us are necessary. He must use his executive authority to implement changes in the Executive Branch of government quickly and effectively, and he must reclaim America’s appropriate role in the world by engaging constructively in international global warming negotiations to get a global agreement that puts us on track to solve this problem.
Sincerely,