League Urges Support for HR 9, the Climate Action Now Act

April 8, 2019
Dear Representative,
On behalf of our millions of members and supporters across the country, we urge you to support H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act, to keep the United States in the Paris Agreement and to reinforce our national resolve to meet America’s climate action commitments.

The Paris Agreement is a global response to the greatest environmental challenge of our time. It includes, for the first time, specific commitments from all major countries and a pathway for each country to strengthen its own domestic climate actions in the years ahead. United States leadership and participation was crucial in bringing the world together to act. But now, by threatening to exit the agreement, the Trump administration risks isolating itself, undermining global climate action, and weakening America’s international influence on a broad array of critical foreign policy issues.

Americans are experiencing climate change here and now in a rising tide of extreme weather disasters, from hurricanes in the southeast, to wildfires in the west, to flooding right now in the country’s heartland. It’s no surprise that polls consistently show that concern over the climate crisis is rising across generational, geographic, and partisan lines.

Americans’ personal experience is underscored by a raft of new scientific reports. Last fall the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirmed that climate change is already happening, and ambitious action to curb carbon pollution is needed starting now to stave off steadily worsening impacts in the U.S. and across the globe. The last four years have been the hottest on record since global measurements began in 1880, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.¹ And the National Climate Assessment – prepared by 13 federal agencies and released by the Trump Administration last year – lays out the stark reality of current climate impacts in all regions of the nation and projects how much worse they could get.

Without significant global action, the National Climate Assessment concludes: “rising temperatures, sea level rise, and changes in extreme events are expected to increasingly disrupt and damage critical 
infrastructure and property, labor productivity, and the vitality of our communities.”² “[C]oastal economies and property are already at risk,” especially communities disproportionately comprised of low-income and minority Americans. In short, climate change is already here in America and it’s already harming Americans’ lives.

Despite these dire forecasts, we can still stave off the worst effects of climate change. Congressional leadership is more important than ever, and the Climate Action Now Act will go a long way to ensure that the United States fulfills our commitments under the Paris Agreement and stays on the path to serious action on climate change.

This legislation demonstrates leadership and vision needed to tackle the climate crisis. We urge you to support the Climate Action Now Act to help make the future climate safe for our children and grandchildren and honor America’s commitments to help confront this global challenge.

Signed,

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Defend Our Future
Earthjustice
Earthworks
Elders Climate Action
Environment America
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Law & Policy Center
Gasp
GreenLatinos
Hispanic Federation
Interfaith Power & Light
League of Conservation Voters
League of Women Voters of the United States
National Hispanic Medical Association
National Parks Conservation Association
National Wildlife Federation
Natural Resources Defense Council
Oxfam America
Public Citizen
Sierra Club
The Wilderness Society
Union of Concerned Scientists
Voices for Progress
World Wildlife Fund

^{1 https://www.noaa.gov/news/2018-was-4th-hottest-year-on-record-for-globe; https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/2018-fourth-warmest-year-in-continued-warming-trend-according-to-nasa-noaa
2 https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/downloads/NCA42018FullReport.pdf}