FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 25, 2009
Contact: Alex Posorske; (301) 270-4550 x 230, Alex@1sky.org
Takoma Park, MD – 1Sky’s reaction to the announcement that President Obama will travel to Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference:
1Sky is very pleased to learn that President Obama will be attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, and sees the trip as yet another indication that he is the most engaged president ever on this issue. His attendance will show to the rest of the world that the United States is serious about fighting climate change and will provide a real boost to a process that is so critical to our planet and people. President Obama can use his international prestige to move other nations toward signing a legally binding treaty with strong short term cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
The 1Sky network has been focused on pushing to ensure that the Administration prioritizes the Copenhagen process. Our activists have held more than 200 gatherings nationwide in the month of November asking Obama to push for a legally binding treaty in Copenhagen, and circulated a petition that generated more than 25,000 signatures urging the President to attend the conference. We will continue our nationwide push for the Administration and the Senate to pass the strongest bill possible and will attend proceedings in Copenhagen so that we can engage organizer reactions to positive or negative developments.
It is already clear today that without pressure the administration may well gravitate to the lowest common denominator. A 17 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, as the Administration indicated that they would seek in Copenhagen, is simply not enough. The planet has little time to waste right now. Without an implementation of strong short term targets and a legally binding international treaty to guarantee that those cuts happen, it will become increasingly difficult to guarantee that even strong measures we take against global warming will have any effect. The 1Sky network will continue to push for real proposals in Copenhagen and from the U.S. Senate that will achieve the kind of cuts in emissions in the near-term future that our planet so desperately needs.