Youth Call To End Coal by 2020

Leaders of the World,

Once again, it is a new year. The world's youth accept 2008 with the same hopes of previous generations, and we have great hopes for the world we want to see. We hope this year will be different. We hope that the world will be better prepared to face the challenges before us and to secure a more prosperous future. We hope that you, our leaders, will address with urgency, strength, and boldness many of the problems left unresolved last year. We hope that this year you will take the decisive move to direct our future away from climate change and the destructive consequences of fossil fuels.

Last year, we heard from scientists and other leaders all around the world that the science was "unequivocal". We know that burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and poor agricultural practices are going to continue warming the planet and endangering our future unless bold action is taken. And we know that coal is the fastest growing, dirtiest fuel of all, and that to secure the future we hope to enjoy, you have to make a new year's resolution: to put an end to coal now.

Coal burning pollutes our lakes, rivers, and streams with mercury, causes acid rain, and affects people's health around the world; coal extraction destroys mountain ecosystems and impoverishes communities; coal is a source of dirty, unhealthy jobs; coal emits the most carbon dioxide of all fossil fuels when burned; and the end of coal use is the biggest step towards ensuring the bright future we wish to see.

As the citizens of tomorrow, we, the undersigned youth, call on you to mandate an end to coal use by 2020 and the replacement of all coal plants with improved energy efficiency, wind, solar, geothermal, wave, tidal and other renewable sources of energy. We are counting on you to make our wish for 2008 come true.