Support a Strong International Climate Treaty

Subject: The U.S. Needs to Lead International Climate Treaty Negotiations

Dear President Obama,

2009 is a crucial year in the international effort to address climate change, culminating in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, December 7-18. But to stop the dire effects of global warming, the United States must provide leadership by supporting and ratifying a robust international climate treaty.

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At the international climate treaty negotiations this December, delegates from around the world must address the challenges of how to get all countries, industrialized and developing, to dramatically reduce emissions and greenhouse gases by 2020. The climate solutions that emerge from such negotiations must be based on equity between rich and poor nations and the best available science.

The Kyoto Protocol, which went into force in February 2005, created the foundation of a vigorous international system to regulate human behaviors harmful to the planet. Yet while the U.S. -- the world's largest polluter -- was a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, this action became merely symbolic when the U.S. withdrew from negotiations and failed to ratify the protocol.

That is why we need strong and resolute leadership from the U.S. this year. The world needs a new, more effective and far-reaching climate change agreement to reduce greenhouse gases by 2020. But if the U.S. does not lead the process, the treaty will fall flat.

Without your leadership in this year's international climate treaty negotiations, we risk more extreme weather events, glacial melting, acidification of the oceans, and an irreversible shift in the global climate system. We urge you to support and ratify a robust international climate treaty this year.