Attorneys General Demand National Policy on Warming

July 18, 2002—Eleven attorneys general, including all six from the New England states, have called on President Bush to issue a substantive policy from Washington that will reduce the threats of global warming in the United States and around the world.

The letter criticizes Bush for his failure to recognize that global warming is caused by increasing carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles, power plants, and industries that burn fossil fuels for energy. Although the White House issued a report in May that stated global warming was a serious environmental problem, the attorneys general urge the president to develop and implement regulatory measures that will move beyond the ineffective voluntary emissions reduction strategies Bush has been proposing. Rather than force businesses and industries to deal with a patchwork of inconsistent regulations—especially in this geographically compact corner of the United States—states need coherent and clear guidelines for how they should cap carbon dioxide emissions.

“This is about our environment, and it’s about our future,” Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly told The Boston Globe. “What we’re asking the administration to do is to deal with it and deal with it now.”

New England states have already taken the lead on carbon emissions reduction, most notably with the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers issuance of a Climate Change Action Plan, which most immediately aims to reduce fossil fuel emissions to 1990 levels by 2010. The plan embraces state carbon inventories, regional goals for conservation and efficiency, and educating the public on how they can make better consumer choices that will help halt global warming.

Massachusetts has already regulated CO2 emissions from power plants and New Hampshire recently passed legislation to cap carbon dioxide from the dirtiest power plants in the state.

So far, the best commitment from Washington is that the president is working on a “bipartisan common sense approach” to the problem, according to a White House spokesman.

“Of course this is about ‘common sense,’” says Adam Markham, Executive Director of Clean Air-Cool Planet. “That’s why we should be implementing mandatory emissions reductions now, not twiddling our thumbs to see what happens when the sea rises another few inches. We don’t have a wait-and-see option. What we do have are business, educational, and community resources to turn the tide against further fossil fuel consumption.”

Clean Air-Cool Planet partners with a variety of businesses, campuses, and communities throughout the Northeast to help them reduce their carbon dioxide footprint, invest in renewable energy sources, and cut their overall energy use.