An important message from Senator Bernie Sanders

An important message from Senator Bernie Sanders
April 2022

Climate change is an existential threat to our planet. To put it simply, if the United States and the global community don’t get their act together and move away from fossil fuels in a very aggressive way, the planet we will be leaving our kids and grandchildren will be increasingly uninhabitable.

Further, it is an issue of national security. We cannot continue to be dependent for our energy supplies on petro-dictatorships in Russia, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. Breaking our dependence on fossil fuels will help lead to a more democratic world.

Earlier this week, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its annual report making it clear that we are running out of time to confront this problem.

If we don’t move boldly, we will see more devastating and extreme heat. We will see more floods. We will see rising sea levels and more destructive weather disturbances. We will see more ocean acidification, more drought, more famine, more disease.

According to the report, we will see food scarcity with the loss of key crops, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture products. We will see water scarcity during the peak water demand periods. We will see coastal and urban flooding result in the disruption of supply chains.

We will see shorter lifespans and worse mental health. We will see increased instances of food and waterborne disease, human and animal diseases. Increased exposure to wildfires will mean more heart and lung diseases, and flooding during extreme weather events will make it harder for health care services to get to those who need it.

These are some of the social costs of a rapidly warming planet. For my colleagues who moan and groan that we cannot afford to take strong action to break our dependency on fossil fuels, this analysis tells us that we cannot afford NOT to act because the economic costs of a deteriorating climate will be extraordinarily high.

Economists have made it clear that the cost of not acting on climate change will mean more than $100 trillion in lost economic activity throughout the world.

Climate change will throw more than 100 million people throughout the world into extreme poverty.

Climate change will result in the mass migration and displacement of more than 140 million people in Latin America, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa by the middle of this century.

The CIA has made it clear that the impact of climate change will substantially increase the risk of war, social unrest and cross-border tensions.

This is reality.

This is our future.

This is the planet we are leaving for our children and for our grandchildren.

Unless we act.

We are staring at a very fundamental choice, and nothing less than the future of our planet is at stake.

On the one hand, we can listen to the fossil fuel industry and the climate deniers, not worry about the impact of climate change, and turn our backs on our children and our grandchildren.

On the other hand, we can listen to the scientists who tell us that we have got to act boldly, aggressively, and immediately to prevent a climate catastrophe. And, by the way, if we do that we can create millions of good-paying jobs and help lead the world in a new energy direction.

Yes. We can transform our energy systems away from fossil fuels and into energy efficiency and sustainable energy. We can do that in transportation, electricity generation, agriculture and making our buildings and appliances more energy efficient. And when we do that we not only combat climate change but we create a cleaner and healthier environment.

Yes. We can build the new electric cars and trucks we need and make it easier for working families to buy them. We can also build the electric buses and high-speed rail systems we need.

Yes. We can weatherize millions of homes and buildings, cut carbon emissions and lower energy bills.

Yes. We can move away from coal and gas electricity generation and convert to wind, solar and hydro.

Yes. We can invest in conservation and public lands to heal our soils, forests and prairie lands.

Yes. We can support small family farms by investing in ecologically regenerative and sustainable agriculture.

Yes. We can fund research and development to drastically reduce the cost of energy storage.

Yes. We can build a modern smart grid, one that is resilient, secure and capable of managing high amounts of renewable energy and maximizing efficiency.

Everyone knows that there is a lot going on in the world right now.

The pandemic continues. We face massive income and wealth inequality. Inflation eats away at our standard of living. Democracy here and abroad is under assault. And Russia’s outrageous invasion of Ukraine reminds us of the incredible savagery of war that we had hoped was long behind us.

But, in the midst of all of this, there is a simple truth. For the sake of our kids and future generations, for the sake of the planet, we cannot give in to despair. We have got to stand up and fight back.

We have got to transform our energy system. We have got to develop economic policies that work for all, and not just the few. We have got to end all forms of bigotry. We have got to revitalize American democracy.

Now, I cannot do that alone. And over the course of the next few months, our supporters are going to be doing everything possible to generate the largest voter turnout in American history, reaching out to people who might otherwise not be voting and turning them out in November.

We’ll be making phone calls, sending text messages, and safely distributing literature throughout communities across this country.

Because if Republicans take control of the House and Senate, I think we all understand that the chances of accomplishing anything significant with respect to climate, or anything else, becomes virtually non-existent.