Conservation Groups, Scientists, Economists Call for Senate to Act on Climate

Leaders from dozens of conservation organizations joined together today, with a rally in front of the Capitol calling for action:

With 40 days until Earth Day 2010, leaders from the environmental community and others signed a “Declaration” calling on the U.S. Senate to take swift action on clean energy and climate. Forty years after the first Earth Day, these leaders urged the Senate to stop stalling and start acting on clean energy and climate solutions for America.

“The first Earth Day was a success because 20 million Americans demonstrated an urgent need for environmental protection and action,” said Kathleen Rogers, President, Earth Day Network. “Together, we can make the 40th anniversary of Earth Day a pivotal moment in the environmental movement. We will use the next 40 days to build momentum around a demand for comprehensive climate legislation and culminate our charge to Congress with The Climate Rally on April 25.”

Join the National Wildlife Federation in signing the Declaration at EarthDayRevolution.com.

Also today from the Union of Concerned Scientists:

Nobel Prize-winning economists and scientists will deliver a letter to the U.S. Senate today, urging lawmakers to require immediate cuts in global warming emissions. The letter was signed by more than 2,000 prominent U.S. economists and climate scientists, including eight Nobel laureates, 32 National Academy of Sciences members, 11 MacArthur “genius award” winners, and three National Medal of Science recipients.

“The nation’s leading scientists and economists have joined together to tell policymakers we agree about the urgency of addressing climate change now,” said James McCarthy, one of the letter’s organizers and a biological oceanography professor at Harvard University. “The bad news is the science of climate change is indisputable. The good news is we can cost-effectively cut the emissions that are causing it.” […]

The longer the United States waits to address climate change, the more expensive it will be to reduce emissions and adapt to its effects, according to the letter, which among its signatories includes five Nobel Prize-winning economists.

Please take a moment to ask your Senators to do their part to preserve America’s wildlife & natural resources for our children’s future!