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2010 – Climate Change
Submitted to and Passed by the AEU 95th Assembly
Whereas in keeping with the AEU Resolution of 2009 that “Climate Change is a catastrophe driven by human choices that have resulted in unsustainable and inequitable use of carbon-releasing energy sources,” and
Whereas carbon dioxide (CO2) increase has been directly linked to global warming leading to an alteration in our global climate and causing a detrimental impact on human and nonhuman species the world over, and
Whereas it is the responsibility of ethical people to support governments and agencies working directly on the various root causes of climate change, and
Whereas accelerating arctic warming and other early climate impacts have led many scientists to conclude that we are already above the safe upper limit of 350 parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere. Furthermore, at our current 390 ppm, we risk reaching tipping points and irreversible impacts such as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet and major methane releases from increased permafrost melt, and
Whereas the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Clean Air Act gives the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to regulate the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from cars, and
Whereas the Environmental Protection Agency ruled in 2010 that starting with 2012 model year vehicle automakers are required to improve fleet-wide fuel economy and reduce fleet-wide greenhouse gas emissions by approximately five percent every year—and EPA fuel economy requirements increase each year to an estimated 34.1 mpg for the combined industry-wide fleet for model year 2016, and
Whereas the EPA has pledged starting in 2011 to take sensible steps to address the billions of tons of greenhouse gas pollution that threaten human health and welfare,
Therefore It Is Resolved that the AEU Board of Trustees send letters to President Barack Obama and EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson applauding the action taken to date. If Congress fails to act, however, the Board should urge the President to use all the constitutional power vested in the executive branch to take comprehensive steps to keep our air free of pollution and our planet free of the drastic consequences of global warming.
