Center for Biological Diversity

People's Petition to Cap Carbon Dioxide Pollution at 350 Parts Per Million

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Prominent climate researchers have warned that we must reduce the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million (ppm) or below in order to stabilize climate change and avoid global catastrophe. The Center for Biological Diversity, along with Bill McKibben's group 350.org, is advocating strongly for this necessary standard.

While carbon dioxide isn’t the only global warming pollutant we need to control, it’s the number-one contributor to climate change.

Please take one minute to join us in moving toward a real solution to the climate crisis by calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to do its job as science, the law and common sense require. Sign the People's Petition to Cap Carbon at 350 Parts Per Million today.

I support the legal petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and 350.org to the EPA to cap atmospheric carbon dioxide levels at 350 parts per million -- the level science says is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of global warming -- under the Clean Air Act.

For four decades, the Clean Air Act has protected the air we breathe through a proven, successful system of pollution control that saves lives and creates economic benefits exceeding its costs by many times. It's time to fully use one of our strongest existing tools for reducing greenhouse gas pollution: the Clean Air Act.

Now is the time to enforce the Act, not gut it. I urge you to move swiftly to grant the petition and enforce the Clean Air Act.

Respectfully,

Dr. James Hansen, Climate Scientist
Bill McKibben, Founder 350.org, Author
Ed Begley, Jr., Activist /Actor
Bonnie Raitt, Musician / Activist
Barbara Kingsolver, Author
Doug La Follette, Wisconsin Secretary of State
Dr. Helen Caldicott, Anti-Nuclear Activist
ChiQ Simms, Navigation Foundation
Dr. Michael Dorsey, Director- Sierra Club National Board
Brock Evans, President- Endangered Species Coalition
Dinah Bear, Attorney-at-Law
Curtis Moore, Author and former Republican Counsel, Committee on Environment and Public Works, U.S. Senate
Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, Biodiversity Chair, Heinz Center
Dr. Niles Eldredge, Curator in the Department of Invertebrates, American Museum of Natural History
Dr. John Terborgh, Research Professor Emeritus and Director, Center for Tropical Conservation, Duke University
Jonathan Baker, Co-founder, Sol Sage
Joshua Beckman, Poet
Kate Bernheimer, Author
Elise Blackwell, Author
Adam Braver, Author
Alan Cheuse, Author
Ron Currie, Jr., Author
Kathryn Davis, Author
Alison Deming, Author
Jay Driscoll, of band Barefoot Truth
Rikki Ducornet, Author
Ben Edlund, TV Writer and Comic-book Artist
Jennifer Egan, Author
Daniel Handler, Author
Oliver Houck, Author and Professor of Law, Tulane University
Alex Irvine, Author
Anna Lappe, Author, Small Planet Institute
Jonathan Lethem, Author
Victor Lodato, Author
Alec Loorz, Founder, Kids vs. Global Warming
Victoria Loorz, Co-Founder, Kids vs. Global Warming
Ben Marcus, Author
Lydia Millet, Author
Rick Moody, Author
Jenny Offill, Author
Zyg Plater, Professor of Law, Boston College Law School
Dr. Melissa Savage, Professor Emeritus, University of California Los Angeles
Aurelie Sheehan, Author
Darcey Steinke, Author
Darin Strauss, Author
Donna Tartt, Author
Lynne Tillman, Author
Fred Tomaselli, Artist
Harvey Wasserman, author of SOLARTOPIA! Our Green-Powered Earth, A.D. 2030
Don Waters, Author
Eric Zencey, Visiting Associate Professor of Historical and Political Studies, Empire State College
Luanne Rice, Author
Mike Tidwell, Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network
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1-25 of 103096 signatures
Number Date Name Location
103096 Wed May 22 15:05:53 EDT 2013 Mary Kreitinger Ithaca, NY , US
103095 Wed May 22 11:46:12 EDT 2013 Marina Ruch Binzen, ot , DE
103094 Wed May 22 10:20:16 EDT 2013 Ellen Parmley Tampa, FL , US
103093 Wed May 22 09:00:13 EDT 2013 Patricia Martins Zurique, ot , CH
103092 Wed May 22 03:28:53 EDT 2013 Joyce Maresco Big Pine Key, FL , US
103091 Wed May 22 00:52:02 EDT 2013 David Zwolski Sydney, ot , AU
103090 Tue May 21 23:28:19 EDT 2013 mauricio carvajal Santiago, ot , CL
103089 Tue May 21 21:27:14 EDT 2013 Marcia Mitcheltree Trout Run, PA , US
103088 Tue May 21 20:11:49 EDT 2013 mary saffer jasper, OR , US
103087 Tue May 21 20:07:46 EDT 2013 paul puzz eureka, CA , US
103086 Tue May 21 19:50:14 EDT 2013 M Helmetsie Pittsburgh, PA , US
103085 Tue May 21 15:46:42 EDT 2013 GIA ALFIERI Seattle, WA , US
103084 Tue May 21 15:31:25 EDT 2013 Toni McCray Lanham, MD , US
103083 Tue May 21 15:03:05 EDT 2013 Maria Christopher Cambridge, MA , USA
103082 Tue May 21 13:41:44 EDT 2013 Anonymous Lisle, IL , US
103081 Tue May 21 04:25:34 EDT 2013 Gregory V. Brooklyn, NY , US
103080 Tue May 21 03:11:27 EDT 2013 Patricia McBee Stilwell, KS , US
103079 Tue May 21 01:33:33 EDT 2013 Lorna Zamoa Cainta, Rizal, AL , PH
103078 Tue May 21 00:35:02 EDT 2013 Cindy Black Seattle, WA , US
103077 Tue May 21 00:01:21 EDT 2013 Meralina Meindersee Pittsburg, CA , US
103076 Mon May 20 22:58:33 EDT 2013 Michelle Cook Mound, MN , US
103075 Mon May 20 20:52:09 EDT 2013 Audrey Johnson Azusa, CA , US
103074 Mon May 20 20:51:22 EDT 2013 Karen Horton Independence, OR , US
103073 Mon May 20 20:34:11 EDT 2013 ANNE SOTELO Los Angeles, CA , US
103072 Mon May 20 19:49:55 EDT 2013 John Oldham Dallas, TX , US
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Several lines of evidence show that allowing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to remain above 350 ppm for a sustained period of time will lead to dangerously acidic oceans, runaway global warming, and melting of the polar ice caps. Such a climate would be well outside anything experienced in the history of the human species, and would carry with it irreversible cascades of species extinctions and significant dangers for human civilization.

What's needed is an immediate reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide, with the goal of an overall concentration of 350 ppm or less to be achieved as quickly as possible. To accomplish that, the Center supports the rapid phasing out of all coal-fired power plants; the highest technologically feasible vehicle-mileage standards; and a ban on extreme energy development like Arctic drilling, tar sands and fracking, among other critical measures.

Smokestacks photo courtesy NASA.