Global Warming News

EVANSTON—With a 20-foot inflated earth, and energy-saving

State Representatives Karen May and Elaine Nekritz, State Senator Susan Garrett, and Professor William Revelle joined Environment Illinois staff for a press conference highlighting solutions to global warming.  Behind the flaming globe is a solar energy installation that heats water for Professor Revelle’s home without creating global warming pollution.

home as a backdrop, Environment Illinois joined with legislators and advocates called for action to address global warming.  To prevent the most severe consequences of global warming, climate scientists estimate that we must reduce global warming pollution by 80% by 2050.

“Global warming poses a very serious threat to Illinois and the world, but we can protect our children and future generations by using common sense solutions to substantially reduce global warming pollution,” said Michael Zucker, a Global Warming Campaigner in Environment Illinois’s Evanston office.

2005 was the warmest year ever recorded, and according to the National Academy of Sciences, global temperatures are higher now tha n at any point in the last 400 years.  Moreover, the early effects of global warming are evident across the U.S. and worldwide.  Left unchecked, global warming threatens to:

· cause more frequent and extreme droughts, like the prolonged drought that lowered crop yields in Illinois last year;

· raise sea levels;

· cause serious future water shortages;

· cause more frequent and severe heat waves; and

· cause and increase in number and intensity of western wild fires.

"The time has come to take action on the wisdom and advice of experts around the world,” said Senator Susan Garrett (D-29). “Global warming is no longer a debate; it's real, and it we should make this our number one priority."

In the absence of mandatory federal or state limits on global warming pollution, emissions are on the rise across the country and in Illinois. Illinois is the nation’s 6th highest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2), the most prevalent greenhouse gas, and our emissions grew by 17% between 1990 ad 2001.  EIA projects that U.S. global warming pollution will increase another 46 percent over the next 20 years.  Power plants and cars and SUVs are the largest sources of global warming pollution nationwide.

“With the absence of federal policies, there are many things that we as a state can do, and I endorse a strong state program to curb global warming pollution,” said State Rep. Karen May (D-Highland Park).  “I also encourage citizens to cut consumption of fossil fuels, to supplement the state programs we hope to enact.” 

Scientists have concluded that in order to keep temperatures below the danger point we need to keep CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere below 450 parts per million, and this will require us to reduce emission by 80% by the middle of this century.  The most immediate danger is setting in motion the complete melting of the Greenland ice sheet.  If the Greenland ice sheet melts completely, it would eventually raise sea level by more than 20 feet, devastating coastal areas and displacing millions of people worldwide. 

 “Illinois should join the growing list of states that have taken action to combat global warming, “said Representative Elaine Nekritz (D-Des Plaines).  “This is a case where our effort to ‘think global and act local’ can have a significant impact.”

To reduce global warming pollution, state and federal elected officials can use existing technology to make power plants and factories more efficient, make cars go farther on a gallon of gasoline, and shift to cleaner technologies, such as hybrids, biofuels, and wind and solar power.  The event hosts, William and Eleanor Revelle, demonstrated the use of energy saving technologies on their home, which was designed to minimize the home’s impact on global warming.  Information on the home can be found at their own website, http://revelle.net/lakeside/.

“Concerted action by individual citizens and by governments at all levels is needed to address this very serious problem,” said Professor Revelle.  “Reducing energy consumption, increasing our reliance on renewable energy sources, making use of energy-efficient technologies, setting high standards--all are important strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

Environment Illinois is calling on state and federal policymakers to adopt science-based global warming policies at the state and federal level, which would comprehensively address the problem by setting mandatory limits on global warming pollution at levels scientists believe are necessary to prevent the worst consequences.  This goal would be accomplished by the Safe Climate Act, a federal bill in the U.S. House of Representatives which is supported by Illinois Representative Jan Schakowsky, and by a similar bill in the U.S. Senate introduced by Vermont Senator James Jeffords of Vermont.  Both measures require emission reductions on the order of 80% by the middle of this century.

However, in the absence of federal leadership, many states, including New Mexico, California, and all of the Northeast states, are making their own plans to shift to clean energy technologies and cut global warming emissions.  Environment Illinois is calling on state legislators to adopt an Illinois-specific cap on global warming pollution to ensure that we are shifting our economy gradually toward a carbon-free energy future. 

“While 10 states have enacted limits on global warming pollution, Illinois has not,” said Zucker.  “The sooner we set the course toward shifting our energy priorities, the better it will be for our health, environment and economy.”

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Environment Illinois is a non-profit, non-partisan environmental advocacy organization.