EPA: Climate change solutions cannot include fracking

Dear MoveOn member,

I'm actor and activist Mark Ruffalo, and I started a petition along with the organization Food & Water Watch to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and President Barack Obama, which says:

Climate change is the issue of our time, so we support your decision to take executive action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the window to save our planet from climate catastrophe is rapidly closing. Therefore, any action taken must be swift and meaningful.

The proposed EPA power plant rules set inadequate targets, fail to aggressively promote renewable energy, and by encouraging the expanded use of natural gas from fracking could actually make matters worse. Methane, the main ingredient of natural gas, is 86 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over 20 years—the time frame most critical for preventing climate catastrophe. Furthermore, the best science now tells us that methane emissions that occur during extraction, processing, and transport make natural gas as bad as coal.

Simply put, we cannot solve the climate crisis if most of our energy still comes from fossil fuels. Fracked gas is not a “bridge.” It’s a gangplank to disaster. Instead of replacing one climate-killing fossil fuel with another, we urge you to adopt a rule that makes the necessary bold and rapid switch to renewables. Ours and future generations depend on it.

The EPA has released draft rules to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, a centerpiece of President Obama's Climate Action Plan. While executive action is necessary given the failure of Congress to act, the proposed rules fail to deliver the meaningful change promised by the president. 

The rules set weak targets. Scientists warn that immediate, deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are essential to prevent a global temperature rise of more than 2 degrees Celsius, beyond which the worst impacts of climate change cannot be avoided.¹ However, by moving the starting point for measurements to 2005, the rules assume dubious credit for transitory reductions that occurred because of economic recession. Compared to 1990 levels—the internationally recognized standard for measuring reductions—the rule would not lower total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at all. 

Addressing only carbon dioxide emissions from combustion, the proposed rules encourage states to burn natural gas instead of coal for electricity. However, methane is 86 times worse than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas over 20 years—the most critical period during which scientists say bold action must be taken to prevent climate disaster.² 

Simply put, we cannot solve the climate crisis if most of our energy still comes from fossil fuels. Fracked gas is not a "bridge." It's a gangplank to disaster.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Mark Ruffalo

Sources:

1. Below 2 degrees C or 1.5 degrees C, Climate Action Tracker, June 4, 2014-revised June 7, 2014. 
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=300926&id=101870-10220574-6jMXLRx&t=1 

2. "A Bridge to Nowhere: Methane Emissions and the Greenhouse Gas Footprint of Natural Gas," Energy Science & Engineering, April 2014.
 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ese3.35/pdf 

This petition was created on MoveOn's online petition site, where anyone can start their own online petitions. Food and Water Watch didn't pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 8 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

---

This email was sent to eddie alfaro on September 23, 2014. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.