Marrakech, Morocco — Leading US climate experts and advocates who are part of the US Climate Action Network issued the following statements:
“President-elect Trump has the opportunity to catalyze further action on climate that sends a clear signal to investors to keep the transition to a renewable-powered economy on track. China, India, and other economic competitors are racing to be the global clean energy superpower, and the US doesn’t want to be left behind.”
Tina Johnson, Policy Director, US Climate Action Network
“From infrastructure to foreign aid, every decision the next President makes should be made through the lens of bold climate action. It’s not enough to just admit climate change is real, we need a President who will dramatically accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to 100% renewable energy for all.”
May Boeve, Executive Director, 350.org
“The new president must protect the people he serves from climate chaos. No personal belief or political affiliation can change the stark truth that every new oil well and pipeline pushes us closer to catastrophe. The administration has moral and legal obligations to meet international commitments and go further to curb pollution and keep dirty fossil fuels in the ground.”
Maya Golden-Krasner, Senior Attorney, Center for Biological Diversity
“The Paris Agreement was signed and ratified not by a President, but by the United States itself. As a matter of international law, and as a matter of human survival, the nations of the world can, must, and will hold the United States to its climate commitments.”
Carroll Muffett, President, Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
“The next president will be able to make an enormous difference in our fight to protect the long-term health and prosperity of the U.S. and the world. U.S. leadership and climate diplomacy was critical to the climate successes achieved at Paris, and our next president will have the responsibility to establish the U.S. emission target for 2030 — an opportunity to demonstrate continued leadership by putting the country on a path to zero net emissions later this century.”
Nathaniel Keohane, Vice President, Global Climate, Environmental Defense Fund
“The world won’t wait for the US and neither will the climate. This year the impacts of climate change cost the US hundreds of billions of dollars and put 40 million people in Southern Africa alone at risk of hunger. The next President needs to work with congress to go further faster to cut emissions and protect the rights of men and women on the front lines of the climate crisis.”
Annaka Peterson, Senior Program Officer, Oxfam America
“It is imperative that our next president display bold, aggressive leadership in embracing remedies for the rest of the world to follow. We will not allow the climate momentum to be stalled. In the tradition of an old civil rights rallying song, the climate movement is like a tree that’s standing by the water- we shall not be moved!”
Katherine Egland, Chair, ECJ Committee, NAACP National Board of Directors; Co-founder EEECHO
“Donald Trump now has the unflattering distinction of being the only head of state in the entire world to reject the scientific consensus that mankind is driving climate change. No matter what happens, Donald Trump can’t change the fact that wind and solar energy are rapidly becoming more affordable and accessible than dirty fossil fuels. With both the market and grassroots environmental advocacy moving us toward clean energy, there is still a strong path forward for reducing climate pollution even under a Trump presidency. Still, this is a time for tough choices. Trump must choose whether he will be a President remembered for putting America and the world on a path to climate disaster, or for listening to the American public and keeping us on a path to climate progress. Trump better choose wisely, otherwise – we can guarantee him the hardest fight of his life every step of the way.”
Michael Brune, Executive Director, The Sierra Club
“In representing U.S. youth at the United Nations, we demand the next presidency use the Paris agreement as a catalyst for recognizing our nation’s role in the climate crisis. As the largest per capita greenhouse gas emitter, we must build systemic solutions from a fundamental understanding that climate change is a product of colonial capitalism. “
Ryan Camero, Media and Communications Team Coordinator, SustainUS
“We have a new administration and a new opportunity to surge forward on climate action. The Obama administration moved mountains to rally the world around combatting climate change. Our new president needs to carry that legacy forward and make good on the promise to make America into the world’s clean energy superpower. US leadership is needed to turn the international consensus of the Paris Agreement into concrete global action, and it starts by charting our own path to a low-carbon future.”
Mariana Panuncio-Feldman, World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) senior director of international climate cooperation
USCAN supports and strengthens US-based civil society organizations’ influence on the development and implementation of local, national, and international climate policy and action. Learn more about us at www.usclimatenetwork.org.