There have been numerous environmental victories over the years. But now we must work together to tackle our greatest challenge yet—global warming. Organizations like PennEnvironment have warned of the impending threat posed by human-made global warming pollution for years.

I can tell you that it was like pushing a very heavy stone up a very high hill. Many politicians in Washington, D.C., and Harrisburg didn’t want to hear a word of it. If I had a nickel for every time a politician told me “the science on global warming is still out,” or “it’s a hoax,” I would be a rich man.

These politicians stood by the misinformation and misdirection being doled out by global warming polluters and their well-heeled lobbyists.

But now the science is in, and global warming is happening. And the catastrophic effects could be worse than ever anticipated.

The world’s leading global warming experts say that we must reduce our global warming pollution 20 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050 in order to avoid global warming’s worst consequences. With evidence mounting, we’re in dire need of political leadership to tackle this issue.

PennEnvironment has already laid out a plan to help our elected officials achieve these reductions. Last fall we released “Rising to the Challenge: Six Steps to Cut Global Warming Pollution in the United States,” a study that gives our politicians a blueprint to achieve the 20 percent reduction by 2020. You can view our report at www.PennEnvironment.org/reports.

Unfortunately, as we move forward to tackle this profound problem, the companies responsible for the most global warming pollution continue to lobby against reducing emissions. In some cases, these powerful interests are even trying to get new dirty, polluting projects online—and exempt the new facilities from meeting global warming pollution reductions before any regulations are put on the books.

For example, the automobile industry continues to fight against tighter fuelefficiency standards. Electricity companies like Houston-based TXU are pushing for dozens of new dirty power plants across the nation. And the coal industry is pushing its “coal-to-diesel” technology like snake oil. What they don’t tell you is that a gallon of diesel made from coal emits twice the global warming pollution of a regular gallon of diesel gasoline.

If the polluters’ efforts come to fruition, it would be impossible to make the necessary global warming pollution reductions in the timeline laid out by the world’s scientific community.

So it is time for our elected officials to make a decision—they’ll either implement global warming pollution reductions called for by the scientific community, or they’ll choose to stay the course and let the global warming polluters make a quick buck while future generations will be left to fend for themselves.

We know that we can convince our legislators to do the right thing, but it will take a lot of work to stand up to the powerful interests that are blocking our path. While we’re the underdogs, we know that with your continued support we can win this important battle to protect the planet.

David Masur
PennEnvironment Director