John,
This week, 98 million people in the U.S. were under ‘Code Red’ air quality alerts after hazardous smoke from over 400 Canadian wildfires drifted south, blanketing parts of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Ohio Valley, and Midwest in a thick, orange haze.
Overnight, New York City had the worst air quality of any major city on Earth — and amid the acrid smoke and ominous Mars-like skies, people in over 18 states got a devastating wake-up call:
The climate crisis is not coming. It is here now. And it impacts everyone, everywhere.
That’s why we’re asking you today to join us in calling on President Biden to use his executive power to declare a National Climate Emergency and meet this moment with the scope and urgency necessary. Sign our petition today — Tell Biden: Declare a National Climate Emergency.
Sign the petition »
What people on the East Coast experienced this week is a version of what some of the rest of the country, and parts of the world, have already been dealing with for years.
On Pacific islands, indigenous people are already bearing the brunt of tidal changes. In the Global South, Black and brown folks are already undergoing climate-forced migration. And on our very own West Coast, record-breaking heat and wildfires are already scorching homes and leaving low-income families with nowhere to go.
The weather extremes and climate disasters we are all already living through make it clear that we’re out of time. This is an emergency. And we need to treat it as one.
We have already locked in a hotter future, but we still have a chance to prevent the most devastating outcomes and create a livable future for all.
Declaring a National Climate Emergency would enable President Biden to unlock the tools and resources to tackle this crisis head on and safeguard our planet, including the ability to:
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Halt crude oil exports;
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Suspend offshore oil and gas drilling;
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Restrict international trade in fossil fuels;
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Order the construction of renewable energy systems in climate-vulnerable communities;
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And leverage Defense Production Act (DPA) funds to manufacture clean energy tech.1
The cost of inaction is mounting, and as a country, we need to act now and deliver deep cuts to emissions.
Can you add your name to our petition to demand President Biden declare a National Climate Emergency and unlock the tools needed to steer us away from fossil-fueled climate catastrophe toward a just, livable future?
Sign the petition »
In solidarity,
Working Families Party
Source:
1. What Would a Climate Emergency Mean? Here Are 4 Key Points., The New York Times, July 21, 2022
