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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26-50 of 103161 signatures
Number Date Name Location
103136 Thu May 23 17:06:43 EDT 2013 claudia pessoa Belo Horizonte, ot , BR
103135 Thu May 23 17:06:03 EDT 2013 Anonymous westmont, NJ , US
103134 Thu May 23 17:03:22 EDT 2013 Ellen Segal Palm Springs, CA , US
103133 Thu May 23 17:00:53 EDT 2013 Vincent Gormley Sioux Falls, SD , US
103132 Thu May 23 17:00:29 EDT 2013 Susan Grodensky Rochester, NY , US
103131 Thu May 23 16:58:42 EDT 2013 Anthe Chatzidimitriou Katerini, ot , GR
103130 Thu May 23 16:57:04 EDT 2013 Anonymous follett, TX , US
103129 Thu May 23 16:56:38 EDT 2013 David Moore Findlay, OH , US
103128 Thu May 23 16:55:58 EDT 2013 Kim Bouchard Burbank, CA , US
103127 Thu May 23 16:55:57 EDT 2013 L Sandoval Pasadena , CA , US
103126 Thu May 23 16:51:49 EDT 2013 Morgan Manuele Port Matilda, PA , US
103125 Thu May 23 16:51:05 EDT 2013 Emily Withnall Las Vegas, NM , US
103124 Thu May 23 16:46:53 EDT 2013 Heather Paravella Mastic Beach, NY , US
103123 Thu May 23 16:44:47 EDT 2013 jamie greer West Orange, NJ , US
103122 Thu May 23 16:42:39 EDT 2013 K C Carney Pittsburgh, PA , US
103121 Thu May 23 16:40:33 EDT 2013 Suzanne Kuffler Woods Hole, MA , US
103120 Thu May 23 16:37:26 EDT 2013 kelly hybl pueblo west, CO , US
103119 Thu May 23 16:35:19 EDT 2013 re ce Lexington Park, MD , US
103118 Thu May 23 16:30:35 EDT 2013 Judy Moran Panama City, FL , US
103117 Thu May 23 16:29:49 EDT 2013 Patricia Burke Mountainside, NJ , US
103116 Thu May 23 16:27:04 EDT 2013 Candy Hunt Weston, FL , US
103115 Thu May 23 16:21:49 EDT 2013 Keith Loomis Keuka Park, NY , US
103114 Thu May 23 16:21:12 EDT 2013 Linda Kobler Denton, TX , US
103113 Thu May 23 16:21:03 EDT 2013 Keith Loomis Keuka Park, NY , US
103112 Thu May 23 16:16:04 EDT 2013 Steven Barrett Walnut Creek, CA , 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.