Date: May 10, 2022
To: Senator Mark Kelly
Senator Kyrsten Sinema
Representative Tom O'Halleran
Representative Ann Kirkpatrick
Representative Raul Grijalva
Representative Paul Gosar
Representative Andy Biggs
Representative David Schweikert
Representative Ruben Gallego
Representative Debbie Lesko
Representative Greg Stanton
Dear Arizona Congressional Delegation:
We, along with the rest of the world, need you to seriously consider how eternity will remember the priorities of humans, at this critical time in its history.
While the world still has time, Arizona, along with the rest of our country, need you to courageously lead your fellow Senators and House Members.
You must take immediate and unprecedented steps to boldly invest in humanity’s only remaining solutions to its rapidly increasing existential climate crisis. The costs of doing nothing, among others, include the loss of untold future generations of our grand and great grandchildren.
The details of these essential climate actions are discussed in the latest report (released on April 4, 2022) from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This “sign-on” letter from the Arizona Climate Action Coalition (ACAC)/Mom Clean Air Force concludes with an outline of these solutions.
This month’s nearly 3,000-page analysis is the first released by the IPCC since the landmark Paris Agreement. It’s also the third installment of the IPCC’s report first issued in August of 2021. The second installment was released during the last two months.
Last August, the IPCC described a “Code Red” for humanity and stated that the world has a very small window of opportunity to mitigate the worst of the impacts of climate change. This last report stated that the world is running out of options to achieve its climate goals.
In a withering statement, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres slammed the governments of high-emitting countries and said they “are choking our planet, based on their vested interests and historic investments in fossil fuels.” IPCC’s latest report serves as a “file of shame,” Guterres said, “cataloging empty pledges that put us firmly on track towards an unlivable world.”
The IPCC assembled a panel of 278 top climate experts, along with the planet’s top researchers, economists, and social scientists. They’re sounding the alarm that the world is on track to blaze past its crucial climate goals and targets within 8 years. They further warn that only immediate, sweeping societal transformation, along with bold investment in sustainable options, can stave off catastrophic warming.
The report’s authors believe it’s still technically possible, and even economically viable, for nations to curb carbon pollution on the scale that’s required. They point out, however, that it “cannot be achieved through incremental change”.
Whether humanity can change course after decades of inaction, is largely a question of collective resolve, according to the latest IPCC report. Governments, businesses and individuals must summon the willpower to transform economies, embrace new habits and leave behind the age of fossil fuels — or face the catastrophic consequences of unchecked climate change.
We call on you to take the first steps to end decades of inaction and make bold investments in our future.
Human carbon pollution has already pushed the planet into unprecedented territory, ravaging ecosystems, rising sea levels and exposing millions of people to new weather extremes. At the current rate of emissions, the world will burn through its remaining “carbon budget” by 2030 — putting the planet saving goal of keeping warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) irrevocably out of reach.
In conclusion, the latest installment of the U.N.’s IPCC report, from April 4th of this year, details how these essential, coordinated efforts will place the planet on a more sustainable path while improving living standards around the globe:
1) scale up renewable energy sources,
2) overhaul transportation systems,
3) restructure cities,
4) improve agriculture, and
5) recapture carbon from the air.
We, the undersigned Arizona residents, community organizations and elected officials, call upon you to study the IPCC’s findings. We then need you to lead your colleagues by urging them to pass bold, comprehensive legislation that:
1) limits global warming to 1.5 degrees, and
2) invests in critical capital that empowers our country to lead the world in transitioning to clean energy.
These capital investments can include grants, tax incentives, subsidies, and discounts that will:
1) help low- and middle-income Americans replace their gas appliances and fossil fuel
burning cars, and
2) encourage business incentives to create more clean energy buildings powered
by solar, wind, and other green technologies.
We are thanking you in advance for your leadership in this matter.
Sincerely,
Climate cannot wait. We call upon Senator Sinema, Senator Kelly, and our Representatives in the House to push their colleagues in Congress to remove the political obstacles preventing passage of these critical investments. The obstruction today is holding back the health, environmental, and economic benefits these climate, justice, and jobs investments will provide to the American people.
With the permafrost melting in the Arctic rapidly and being so close to an irreversible tipping point, NO MORE PROCRASTINATION. ACT NOW.
Sincerely,
Elders Climate Action – Arizona Chapter
Moms Clean Air Force
Arizona Climate Action Coalition
Defend Our Future Arizona
Citizens Climate Lobby
Northern Arizona Climate Change Alliance
Extinction Rebellion Phoenix
Yuma Audubon Society
Mi Familia Vota
St Francis Renewal Center
Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation - Environmental Action Team
Physicians for Social Responsibility - Arizona Chapter
Arizona Interfaith Power and Light
Arizona Faith Network
Climate Reality - Greater Phoenix Area
Climate Reality - Chandler
Sustainable Tucson
Chispa Arizona
Sierra Club - Grand Canyon Chapter
Chispa, League of Conservation Voters
Cochise County Democratic Party
Vote Solar
Tempe City Council
Salt River Project
Sedona City Council
Bell Rock Gallery