LWVUS Urges Climate Action in the Senate

Following a new report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicating the importance of international governments acting to reduce emissions, LWVUS urged Senators to prioritize invest in renewable energy, implement a plan to put a price on carbon, and address the long-term impacts climate change has on public health. Action now is critical to curb the most dramatic impacts of climate change that may occur at warming levels higher than 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels.  

April 21, 2022
To:   Members of the U.S. Senate
From: Virginia Kase, CEO League of Women Voters
Re: Addressing Climate Change

On behalf of our 500,000 members and supporters, as well as the millions of Americans who believe climate action is necessary for a secure future, the League of Women Voters strongly urges Congress to take action to address climate change.

On April 4, 2022, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change, published a report that discusses “climate change mitigation progress and pledges, and examines the sources of global emissions.” This report explains international efforts to target emission reduction and assesses the impact of national climate pledges in relation to long-term emissions goals. The findings highlight the importance of countries like the U.S. making commitments now to mitigate the effects of climate change. The main take-aways on this report are that it is not too late to cut emissions and avoid some of the most dramatic potential effects of climate change and that acting now is the best way to ensure a stable climate for the future.

While states and local governments are working to address climate change at the community level, it is imperative that climate action also be taken at the national level. Legislative policy to invest in renewable energy, implement a plan to put a price on carbon, and address the long-term impacts climate change has on public health are necessary steps that Congress must take to address the climate change crisis. There are a number of pieces of legislation that have been introduced in Congress that can be moved to take immediate action to address the climate change crisis.

Climate change doesn’t exist in a silo — it is inextricably connected to many other issues, including our economy. There are measurable financial costs associated with worsening impacts of climate change — for instance, every time a natural disaster brought on by climate change damages a city, there are clear costs to repair buildings and infrastructure. As more severe impacts of climate change loom on the horizon, environmental action is crucial.

The planet has already warmed over the past century and a further increase in global average temperatures has already set in motion, but there is an enormous difference between a 2-degree Celsius increase and 3-degree or higher increase. The degree of increase is within our control and hinges upon international action now. We urge you to prioritize the inclusion of effective new measures to address climate change in legislation before the end of this year.