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Global Warming and Climate Change:
Real vs. False Solutions

The Kerry, Graham and Lieberman climate bill is so compromised it's rotten. Let your representative(s) know that you are deeply concerned about climate change, and therefore support a vote AGAINST this bill. Tell them a much, much stronger climate bill is absolutely necessary!

When the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act last year, many, including climate scientist James Hansen called the bill "worse than nothing," and found themselves, sadly, opposing climate legislation. Why? Because the bill failed to rise to the challenge, offered absurdly weak targets, provided ludicrous quantities of corporate handouts to polluters, funded a slew of dirty false solutions (carbon capture and sequestration, biomass burning, nuclear, etc). Overall, it sought to maintain business as usual, rather than putting the nation on the path to avoid catastrophic warming.

Many concerned citizens supported the passage of this bill, calling stridently for "strong action on climate change," unaware of the devil in the details. The devil dwells in the fact that many powerful industry and government interests view climate change not as a serious problem to be resolved by all means possible, but rather as an opportunity to maintain and enhance profits. They would seek to build more polluting incinerators, continue mountaintop removal and coal burning, expand industrial agriculture, drill our coastlines, mine uranium and build more nuclear reactors, leaving us to cope with more cancer, asthma and other health problems, and an altogether questionable future for our children.

When Kerry-Boxer introduced a companion bill largely mirroring "worse than nothing," it was entirely rejected by some Senators, who, unbelievably, fail to recognize climate change as a problem worthy of addressing, and are entirely beholden to their fossil fuel and other industry supporters. Kerry went back to the drawing board, this time inviting the participation of industry and the deniers who have made it clear that in order to win the needed 60 votes, they would require fulfillment of their "wishlist." We are now faced with a bill written to fulfill the wishes of the worst polluters and denialists and guaranteed to be FAR worse than nothing.

The Kerry-Graham-Lieberman bill would even take away EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act -- our one proven tool for regulating air pollution, which industry fears because it will be more effective than the carbon trading schemes in this legislation. The Kerry-Graham-Lieberman bill will even invalidate any state and local-level laws that are stronger than the weak policies in their bill!

Just because this bill has the word "climate" in it's title, doesn't mean it is a good bill! Tell your representatives to vote against this rotten bill because it fails on every count. Demand a much, much stronger climate bill that will embrace targets that meet the mandates of climate science, put an end to dirty energy, restore ecosystems, protect our health and fulfill our obligations to the international community.

Why we (and lots of other groups) oppose the federal climate legislation

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The Facts on False Solutions:

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