Climate change is the most pressing issue our country faces today. It is tied directly to every challenge we face, from our struggling economy to health care to our national security.
We are in an economic recession. It is clear that the unsustainable business practices enabled by President Bush's broad deregulation are at the root of our current predicament. Now the American people are looking for a way out.
Unsustainable business practices are the direct source not only of our current financial crisis but also the steep rise in carbon emissions in recent years. President Bush's outsourcing of government function has enabled the same corporate negligence exposed here to perpetrate human rights violations across the world. For example, increased reliance on private contractors for military purposes has led to the torture cases that have defaced America's image in the international community.
As Al Gore has said, "We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change." This triangle trade ties the U.S. to instabilities that threaten our national safety. We are financing human rights violations and future terrorism. An American renewable energy economy effectively ends these ties.
Global warming has already led to new health threats as unfamiliar viruses appear in new regions. Climate change causes viruses to migrate as their suitable habitats shift, exposing people to diseases they are ill equipped to combat. Respiratory diseases have spiked in recent years, correlated with skyrocketing emissions. It's great to ensure health care to treat the symptoms, but it is unsustainable without curing the source.
We must lower our atmospheric carbon emissions to 350 parts per million by at least the year 2050 in order to avoid irreversible change. Reaching this goal requires a national effort on par with the Apollo Space Program. Initiating such a program will bring the type of relief Americans so desperately need. We can create 5 million net new jobs by transitioning away from dirty, unsafe fuels towards long-overdue renewable technologies.
We cannot afford to take baby steps right now. We need effective regulation of the private sector to force corporations to internalize climate-related externalities. We need 100 percent renewable electricity by the year 2018. This means a new electricity grid, no new coal-fired power plants, and investment in clean energy now. An unstable climate will lead to an economic recession that will make this one look like a seasonal lull. We must act now.
David Emmerman
Amherst College
Meredith Annex
Williams College
