LAWYERS DEMANDING ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE. JOIN US.
2016 Was Officially the Hottest Year on Record. We Must Act Now.
Thinking People Of Conscience Agree
This Is Not A Political Issue
Federal courts too often have been cautious and overly deferential in the arena of environmental law and the world has suffered for it.
~U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Juliana v. United States, No. 6:15-cv-01517-TC (D. Or. Nov. 10, 2016)
WHO ARE WE?
We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit group of lawyers, law professors, law students, and citizens dedicated to using the law to secure the rights of all people to a healthy and sustainable planet earth. We signed the Petition and our names our listed on this website. We are deeply concerned that, unless strong action is taken soon to reduce and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, it will be too late to prevent further, irreparable harm. We believe that we have a moral and ethical duty to speak out, engage others to work with us, and convince governmental actors to pursue common sense solutions to climate change.
WHAT DO WE WANT FROM YOU?
We want you to join us. By signing the Petition, you will confirm that you support our goals and want to be listed as a signer. Signing will also enable us to communicate directly with each other. We promote local, regional, and national activities and programs to further our goals. We want you work with us to find ways to persuade lawmakers to enact, adopt, and enforce laws that protect people, the planet, and its resources.
PETITION FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
This is a Petition signed by lawyers and others calling for immediate government action to protect the Earth’s climate from harm much greater than the substantial harm that the scientific community tells us has already been caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The signers hope that the message of this Petition will be adopted by local, state, and national bar associations in the United States and throughout the world, and that all other professions and vocations will take similar action as part of an international demand for protection of the global climate, the planet, and the people and other living things that inhabit it.
We, the signers, espouse the following:
• Global climate change, also known as global warming, is real and is caused by greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, primarily the burning of fossil fuels. There is no dispute on this among scientists who study climate change.[1]
• The likelihood of serious harm to human society worldwide in the short, medium, and long-term is great, including severe disruption to human life and activities. For example, scientists predict that unless measures are taken to reduce now and soon eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, there will be a global increase in temperature of 4.7° to 8.6° Fahrenheit between now and the end of this century. Contrast that to global warming of 1.4° Fahrenheit since 1900, with most of that increase occurring since 1970.The effects of such further temperature change will threaten food production, freshwater supplies, coastal infrastructure, and the welfare of large sectors of the world’s population.
• One known way for governments to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to impose a carbon pricing policy, such as a carbon tax, fee and dividend, or cap and trade system. Numerous liberal and conservative economists have recognized that a carbon pricing policy would be feasible and effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and would have the beneficial side effect of spurring economic growth. Governments including the government of the United States should address this issue and pass effective measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the very near future, or it will be too late to take effective action.
• Protecting society from harm is the most fundamental purpose of law and government. Faced with clear evidence of impending harm, we as citizens and lawyers have a duty to speak out on the need for effective government action to protect humans now alive and those to be born. We have no right to knowingly continue to inflict severe damage to the planetary ecosystem that sustains all life. To the contrary, we have a duty to protect it.
• Lawyers have a special duty to speak out on important societal issues, especially regarding matters that may be effectively redressed through law. We call on lawyers to sign this Petition. We welcome the signature of all other people and organizations. We encourage everyone to discuss the Petition with their families, friends, neighbors, and co-workers and use every lawful means available to bring attention to this serious problem and call for action NOW to protect the climate for the good of all humans and other living things on earth.
1. Extensive support for these statements and those that follow can be found at the Learn section of this site.
