* "The problem of climate change is so large that it can't be solved by voluntary individual responses. It requires an economy-wide solution, i.e. one that limits the total carbon intake of the economy." ~ Peter Barnes

* “The climate challenge illustrates how we have to change. The developing countries need more support and opportunities to develop and use clean energy. Because if the current situation continues, then the world will not be able to handle this burden. -- Gro Harlem Brundtland

Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he's been given. But up to now he hasn't been a creator, only a destroyer. Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up, wild life's become extinct, the climate's ruined and the land grows poorer and uglier every day. ~ Anton Chekhov Global warming is a matter of national security. Will we live in a world where we must fight our neighbors for fresh water and food? Or will we take the lead now and leave to our children and grandchildren a world better off than the one we inherited from our parents? – General Wesley Clark

* Deeper than temperature and the extinction of the polar bear is the idea that we all share this beautiful, ailing planet, Democrats and Republicans alike. -- Sheryl Crow

I feel we are so blessed to live in a country where we enjoy so many rights that other countries cannot even begin to imagine. However, it terrifies me that we seem to have lost touch with our connection to the earth. I am concerned that we have risen to such heights of arrogance in our refusal to acknowledge that our earth is rapidly changing in ways that might affect us catastrophically but instead, we hold steadfast to our belief that nothing can happen to us as a people.
-- Sheryl Crow

* “Can we really be so uncaring as a country to refuse to accept our responsibility for global warming when the United States is the largest contributor to this problem? It breaks my heart to read everyday of another environmental law that is being chipped away, eroded by this Administration, and we’re not being provided with incentives by Bush to cut back on our shameful waste of energy. My husband, Bruce, wrote in one PSA that during World War II the government asked everyone to make sacrifices for the common good. We must demand this of our Administration today for we all have an obligation as citizens of this earth to leave the world a healthier, cleaner, and better place for our children and future generations.” ~ Blythe Danner

* Our oil-based society depends on non-renewable resources. It requires relentless probing into vast reaches of pristine land, sacrificing vital bioregions, and irreplaceable cultures. The possibility of catastrophic climate change is substantially increased by the 40 million barrels of oil burned every day by vehicles. We must all move shoulder to shoulder in a unified front to show this administration that the true majority of people are willing to vote for a cleaner environment and won't back down. ~ Leonardo DiCaprio

* We should not be drilling for oil anywhere because burning oil and coal and natural gas is what's destroying our environment, our climate. And we need the climate if we're going to eat. -- Paul Ehrlich

* "Climate change is not just another issue. It is the issue that, unchecked, will swamp all other issues. The only hope lies in all the countries of the world coming together around a common global project to rewire the world with clean energy. This is a path to peace --- peace among people, and peace between people and nature." -- Ross Gelbspan

* What happened to Haiti is a threat that could happen anywhere in the Caribbean to these island nations, you know, because of global warming, because of climate change and all this. -- Danny Glover

The warnings about global warming have been extremely clear for a long time. We are facing a global climate crisis. It is deepening. We are entering a period of consequences." ~ Al Gore * "The good news is, we have everything we need now to respond to the challenge of global warming. We have all the technologies we need, more are being developed.... But we should not wait, we cannot wait, we must not wait." ~ Al Gore

* Instead of trying to be responsible for all the problems in the world, we should take on what we love and care about. Then we honor both our inner world and the outer world at the same time. There’s no separation between the two, and there is no hesitation, no self-doubt. This will help us develop great faith that others are taking care of their piece. People who don’t know the details about climate change may care deeply about the forests, the animals, and the children. It is very important that we share, not only our merit, but also the responsibilities. Somehow we have to relieve ourselves of the enormity, which is so debilitating. ~ Paul Hawken

If it were only a few degrees, that would be serious, but we could adapt to it. But the danger is the warming process might be unstable and run away. We could end up like Venus, covered in clouds and with the surface temperature of 400 degrees. It could be too late if we wait until the bad effects of warming become obvious. We need action now to reduce emission of carbon dioxide.
- Stephen Hawking

* "America has the technology and resources to meet all its energy needs while safeguarding the earth's climate. The urgent question now is, 'Do we have the will?' At least one city does, and I'm proud to live in it." ~ Denis Hayes

* Reversing global warming will take a World War II level of mobilization. It is the work of tens of millions, not hundreds of thousands. -- Van Jones

"Climate change is the most severe problem that we are facing today, more serious even than the threat of terrorism."
-- David King

"People tend to focus on the here and now. The problem is that, once global warming is something that most people can feel in the course of their daily lives, it will be too late to prevent much larger, potentially catastrophic changes."
-- Elizabeth Kolbert

Yet, despite our many advances, our environment is still threatened by a range of problems, including global climate change, energy dependence on unsustainable fossil fuels, and loss of biodiversity.
-- Dan Lipinski

* We have a responsibility to protect the rights of generations, of all species, that cannot speak for themselves today. The global challenge of climate change requires that we ask no less of our leaders, or ourselves. ~ Wangari Maathai

* Global warming is no longer a philosophical threat, no longer a future threat, no longer a threat at all. It's our reality. -- Bill McKibben

* Federal policy over the past century has largely failed to promote an energy system based on safe, secure, economically affordable, and environmentally benign energy sources. The tax code, budget appropriations, and regulatory processes overwhelmingly have been used to subsidize dependence on fossil fuels and nuclear power. The result: increased sickness and premature deaths, depleted family budgets, acid rain destruction of lakes, forests, and crops, oil spill contamination, polluted rivers and loss of aquatic species and the long-term peril of climate change and radioactive waste dumps–not to mention a dependency on external energy supplies. ~ Ralph Nader

* "All across the world, ...increasingly dangerous weather patterns and devastating storms are abruptly putting an end to the long-running debate over whether or not climate change is real. Not only is it real, it's here, and its effects are giving rise to a frighteningly new global phenomenon: the man-made natural disaster. " -- Barack Obama Global warming is not just the greatest environmental challenge facing our planet — it is one of our greatest challenges of any kind. -- Barack Obama This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands. -- Barack Obama

* Global climate change is real and we have a limited time to change our behavior or live with the consequences. We can all help by making small changes in our lives to letting our voice be heard by our governing bodies. As has always been the case in this country, if the people demand change, it will come. -- Kyra Sedgwick Global climate change is real. The legislative branch of our government is our last line of defense against pollution which is why I am so grateful to have the NRDC making our voice heard. -- Kyra Sedgwick

"There will be no polar ice by 2060...Somewhere along that path, the polar bear drops out."
-- Larry Schweiger, President, National Wildlife Federation, 2006

"Global warming threatens our health, our economy, our natural resources, and our children's future. It is clear we must act."
-- Eliot Spitzer

* If we are to have the public conversations essential to taking on serious dilemmas from climate change to criminal justice reform, we need forums for those conversations. The media can facilitate the conversations or shut them down. They can open up or constrain our beliefs about what is possible, what is desirable, who is deserving, and which perspectives are legitimate. -- Sarah van Gelder

* It is upsetting that many people don’t seem to observe what’s happening to the environment, what’s happening in terms of global warming, the loss of habitats and wild things. -- Joanne Woodward

 

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