STEP IT UP ON CLEAN ENERGY—Rep. John Dingell (Mich.) speaks at a “Step it Up” event in Ann Arbor. U.S. PIRG and other organizations worked with congressional champions to call on Congress to cut carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050.

News on global warming continues to confirm what scientists have been saying for years. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a U.N. body charged with assessing the scientific record on global warming, issued a series of working-group reports this year concluding that human activities are warming the planet, that the first impacts are evident worldwide, but that the pollution reductions needed to stave off the worst effects of global warming can be achieved—if governments act now.

U.S. PIRG has led the way in calling for just such action in Congress and in state legislatures across the country, employing tactics new and old to get the message out.

Research: Emissions On The Rise
In April, U.S. PIRG Federal Global Warming Program Director Emily Figdor released “The Carbon Boom,” a U.S. PIRG analysis of state fossil fuel consumption data. Our research shows that carbon dioxide emissions increased in all but two states between 1990 and 2004 and increased by 18 percent nationwide over the 15-year period.

“Given the risks from global warming, it’s incredibly irresponsible for the United States to increase its global warming pollution. It’s as if the doctor told us that we need to go on a serious diet, but we’ve gone straight for the Ben & Jerry’s,” said Figdor.

Step It Up Events
In April, PIRG activists across the country helped organize some of the more than 1,400 local events in 50 states on a Nat­ional Day of Climate Action—calling on Congress to “Step It Up.”

For example, PIRG organizers were joined by Rep. John Dingell in Ann Arbor, Mich., by Rep. Diana DeGette in Denver, Colo., and by the lead co-sponsor of the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, Sen. Bernie Sanders, in Burlington, Vt..

Students Call for Leadership
On Earth Day, the PIRGs’ New Voters Project announced that students in eight states will be trailing presidential candidates at campaign appearances, asking the candidates to detail their plans on global warming.

The effort is part of a national campaign called “What’s Your Plan?” to convince Presidential candidates to pay attention to young people’s concerns. By using the attention already focused on the presidential races, students hope to give global warming a prominent place in the minds of leaders, starting with the candidates.

Finally, we continue to press Congress to move forward on strong, science-based legislation to reduce global warming pollution. State PIRGs and our partner state environment groups are campaigning for state-level global warming pollution reduction measures in more than 20 states across the country.