CLIMATE CHANGE IS A NON-PARTISAN ISSUE

Global Warming knows no boundaries – political, geographic, economic, religious or otherwise. It affects everyone, though poor people living on marginal lands and those living in coastal areas will bear the brunt of its effects.

Those who recognize the precedent setting effort of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and its 2,500 scientists, economists and policy advisors, have supported the effort to stabilize the climate.

This non-partisan level of recognition includes statements made by representatives from all sectors including:


"But the Kyoto Protocol has dealt with very serious problems. Nature isn't able comfortably to assimilate the greenhouse gases the world is merrily programmed to produce."
– William F. Buckley, Jr., ON THE RIGHT: KYOTO OR BUST? Universal Press Syndicate: 12.12.97

"But the threat to our world comes not only from tyrants and their tanks. It can be more insidious though less visible. The danger of global warming is as yet unseen, but real enough for us to make changes and sacrifices, so that we do not live at the expense of future generations."
– Margaret Thatcher British Prime Minister, 11.06.90

"Given the fact that the United States produces approximately 25 percent of the total greenhouse gases emissions, the current situation demands leadership from the United States, We should reward improvements in energy efficiency, encourage advances in energy technologies, and improve land-use practices. Deploying the power of a marketplace to pursue the least expensive answers is a unique and powerful American approach to the threat of climate change."
– U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ)

"What really has happened to winter? ... Everything seems a bit topsy-turvy, weather patterns askew, climates perceptibly altered, snow and rainfall inadequate or just plain different from what we were used to. Chalk it up to global warming, the disappearing ozone layer, or whatever. ... Last year it never got cold enough to freeze the ponds where I live in Connecticut. Nothing untoward is going to happen in my lifetime, or yours, but for health and well-being of our children and our grandchildren, it is imperative that we pay attention to the warning signs and to cautions from scientists. Where is winter? We should keep asking that question until we get a really good answer."
– Martha Stewart, in Martha Stewart Living magazine, 12.99

"We can't ignore mounting scientific evidence on important issues such as climate change. The science may be provisional. All science is provisional. But if you see a risk you have to take precautionary action just as you would in any other aspect of business."
– Sir John Browne, CEO, BP Amoco

"The whole world is feeling the effects of global warming. Now it's time for Washington to feel a different kind of heat -- the heat from the true majority of citizens who demand our government work to reverse global warming now."
– Ben Cohen, Ben & Jerry's co-founder. April, 2002

"We should not only sign onto the Kyoto agreement, but be a leader in advancing it. We should not only pass stronger environmental laws, we (should) enforce them aggressively and forcefully."
– Jim Jeffords, US. Senator (I-VT)

"Consumers are smart. They recognize the threat that pollution and global warming present to them and their children."
– Hiroshi Okuda, Toyota President, Time , 11.97

"…global warming is a pressing problem, but we can solve it. Each of us has the ability to decrease what is happening to our earth right now."
– Katie Harmon, Miss America, 4.28.02

"Through a program of measurement and continuous improvement, Stonyfield Farm is rapidly growing while dramatically decreasing its impact on global climate change. It’s a classic win-win-win situation––good for business, good for our children, and good for America."
– Gary Hirshberg, CEO Stonyfield Farm

"We take very seriously the effects of climate change on our planet. Nike's reduction of greenhouse gas emissions will illustrate how environmental strategies can align with business goals and will hopefully inspire more businesses to address climate change."
– Sarah Severn, Corporate Director of Corporate Sustainable Development, Nike, Inc.

"We have coastal erosion, droughts and in the last decade we have experienced an unusually high level of tropical storms. Salt water intrusion [into soils] has affected our traditional food crops, and now we are seeing flooding of low-lying areas,"
– Paani Laupepa, ministry of natural resources, Tuvalu, South Pacific, 10.01

"The climate system is being pushed hard enough that change will become obvious to the man in the street in the next decade."
– Dr. Jim Hansen, NASA’s Goddard Institute

"The more rapidly we force changes in the [climate] system, the more likely it is to exhibit inscrutable behavior."
– Professor Stephen Schneider, Stanford University

"Reckless human use of fossil fuels - overwhelmingly by industrialised countries - has helped raise the spectre of climate change, which darkens everyone's horizon. But poor people in poor countries suffer first and worst from extreme weather conditions linked to climate change. Today, 96% of all deaths from natural disasters occur in developing countries."
– International Federation of Red Cross, World Disasters Report 2000

"Small island states will be really badly affected. A lot of them will be submerged - the Maldive islands, all those in the South Pacific and the Caribbean islands,"
– Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

"In the opinion of the panel, the warming trend in global-surface temperature observations during the past 20 years is undoubtedly real and is substantially greater than the average rate of warming during the 20th century. The disparity between surface and upper air trends in no way invalidates the conclusion that surface temperature has been rising. "
– National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, 01.14.00

"Global warming is no longer a distant threat; it’s as real, as clear and present an issue, with profound effects on people’s lives, as war and peace or recession and poverty--and the effects are only just beginning to be felt."
– Al Gore, former Vice President in new foreword to Earth in the Balance