Tag Archive for: Presidential Candidate Report Card

Be a Climate Champion Today in Two Minutes

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I know there are a lot of demands for our time and attention out there right now, so let me cut to the chase. I need you to be a Climate Champion today.

I need you to take TWO MINUTES and make just a few clicks that will SPUR BOLD action in defense of our planet TODAY. Be a hero today. 

It’s that simple. Today is #GivingTuesday, the single largest online charitable day all year. To be relevant, we need to take bold action. I need you to do this today. 

 

To be honest, I don’t need you to do it, you do. Your family, your kids, your grandkids, your future, demands you do it. Because if we don’t act the solutions to climate change in our grasp RIGHT NOW, won’t happen. 

Because our presidential candidates are still coming up short. Take a look:

Climate champion

If our candidates still aren’t taking bold steps toward actual solutions that will restore our climate to healthy levels, we must. That’s why I’m calling for 100 people to join me TODAY as the first Climate Action Champions of the Build a Movement 2020 effort.

It’s easy to be a climate champion.

Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Click here and sign our petition in support of Climate Restoration. 
  2. Share the petition on your social media urging others to sign.
  3. Click here and contact your legislators in support of Climate Restoration. You’ll be stunned how easy it is.
  4. Share the link to invite others to speak out in defense of planet earth.
  5. And we need even $1 in support to show the growth of this movement. Click here and make a donation today. 

And that’s it. You’re just one voice. So am I. But together, with a few clicks and a determined sense of urgency, we can raise a clarion call that will elevate solutions for our world, today, tomorrow and forever. 

If you’d like to read the complete CREA report card, please click here. And I’d love to hear from you, so visit my contact page and drop me a line. 

Urge candidates to take Climate Restoration Emergency Action

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If you’re like me you’re following the presidential candidates, the impeachment proceedings and the flurry of news coming out of Washington with a high degree of wariness. It’s noisy and disturbing and eventually, we go a bit numb.

For example, there was only one question in this week’s Democratic Presidential Candidates’ Debate on climate change.

We must break through the noise because there is great news coming out of the effort to not only slow global warming but to actually restore the Earth to a healthy habitat for generations to come. 

To accomplish this ambitious, yet absolutely necessary goal, we must elect a President in 2020 that will lead Climate Restoration Emergency Action (CREA). And so far, the entire slate of candidates are coming up short. Take a look: 

Democratic voters in Iowa and around the country should be alarmed by the lack of ambition to address climate change by the Presidential candidates. All of the candidates are failing to respond adequately to our climate emergency. We need more than rhetoric and empty promises. Climate Restoration Emergency Action (CREA) won’t be easy by any stretch of the imagination. Yet with bold leadership, it’s affordable and achievable. CREA is a bold, whole-of-government and global effort to catalyze a fast transition to a net-zero carbon economy by 2030, massive carbon dioxide removal, and climate restoration by 2050– thereby ensuring the survival of humanity and our natural world.  

It’s time to raise contact these candidates directly, and we’ve made it so easy for you to do in just a few clicks and a couple of minutes online. 

Click here and you’ll come to a simple form that will directly email presidential candidates urging them to take bold action for climate restoration. 

Then post to social media and ask your friends to take action as well. Tell them to go to the Build A Movement 2020 Action Center at this link: https://www.bam2020.world/action-center It’s that easy. And it can be very powerful. 

Now is the time for voters to make sure the next President leads a global movement for climate restoration. 

Let’s join forces with all Americans and vigorously demand action to restore our climate. 

#RestoreOurClimate

 

Our next President must save humanity

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Our next President must be prepared to save humanity. In the face of a climate emergency that impacts every aspect of our lives, half-measures and plodding steps will not be sufficient. And we have just over 350 days to impact the election with this critical goal.

An effort to save humanity probably sounds extreme. But the science is clear: We are running out of time. Equally clear is that there are options for climate restoration that can do the job. We can save humanity.

This election cycle has focused more attention on climate justice than ever before. Several candidates are calling for a climate emergency. Several are offering bold ideas. But none yet has broken to the top of the field, according to our newly released Climate Restoration Emergency Action Scorecard.

Democratic voters in Iowa and around the country should be alarmed by the lack of ambition to address climate change by the Presidential candidates. 

CREA report card tracking saving humanity

All of the candidates are failing to respond adequately to our climate emergency. We need more than rhetoric and empty promises. 

Climate Restoration Emergency Action (CREA) won’t be easy by any stretch of the imagination. Yet with bold leadership, it’s affordable and achievable. 

Now is the time for voters to make sure the next President leads a global movement for climate restoration. 

You can read the full report on the CREA report card here.

Ensure our next President helps save humanity

Our next President must also go beyond current ambitions for climate action. 

Besides ongoing mitigation (reducing CO2 emissions) and adaptation (preparing for inevitable consequences), the next President must set a new goal to achieve “climate restoration” — to repair the current damage and proactively ensure a safe and healthy climate for future generations.

The next President must mobilize the full capabilities of the federal government, universities, and the private sector to deploy innovative solutions to return atmospheric CO2 to safe levels of less than 300 parts per million by 2050. 

In addition, efforts must restore sufficient Arctic ice for eight months of the year to prevent permafrost melt and the resulting disastrous methane emissions. This is an urgent priority.

So far, none of the candidates have committed to this goal.

The next president must lead the rapid acceleration of the three legs of climate action: mitigation, adaptation, and restoration. This will require mobilizing the entire federal government and society on a scale not seen since Americans mobilized to win the battle against fascism in World War II.

So far, none of the candidates have committed to this goal.

Our next President must unify a broad range of constituencies within the Democratic party and demonstrate their skill to mobilize cross-partisan support that attracts Independents, green Republicans, and especially non-voting Americans. A unified political movement is an absolute prerequisite for breaking the political logjam to accelerate federal climate action.

So far, none of the candidates have committed to this goal.

Our greatest presidents have called on shared sacrifice to accomplish broad goals like winning World War II and ensuring “government of the people, by the people and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” 

A new president’s mission is a little more succinct: to ensure people shall not perish from the earth. The top agenda must be to save humanity.

Let’s join forces with all Americans and vigorously demand action to restore our climate.

 

New Climate Change Report Card Warns Iowa Voters:

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Democratic Candidates Ambitions Are Too Low

14 November 2019 (Washington, DC)–Three months before the Iowa caucuses, a recent CNN poll shows climate change is a top priority for Iowa’s likely Democratic voters. Build A Movement 2020 today released the Climate Restoration Emergency Action (CREA) Report Card that demonstrates poor performance on essential climate action by all leading candidates–sending a warning to Iowa caucus-goers.   

In releasing the climate change report card, Dr. Paul Zeitz, Founder, Build A Movement 2020 said: “Democratic voters in Iowa and around the country should be alarmed by the lack of ambition to address climate change by the Presidential candidates–all are failing to respond adequately to our climate emergency. Climate Restoration Emergency Action (CREA) is affordable and achievable. Let’s join forces with all Americans and vigorously demand action to restore our climate.” 

Climate Restoration Report Card

KEY FINDINGS OF CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT CARD: 

  • Among the leading Democratic candidates, Senator Sanders received the highest overall grade (C+ grade), narrowly outperforming his leading rivals. Former Vice President Biden, Mayor Buttigieg, and Senator Warren all got C grades. 
  • Most 2020 candidates agree we face a climate emergency. Alarmingly, however, no leading Democratic candidates have developed ambitious plans to transition to a net-zero carbon economy fast enough to avoid catastrophic climate effects. 
  • Among top-tier candidates, only Biden and Buttigieg begin to support effective action to deal with the damage already done, committing to use natural and technological solutions for carbon dioxide removal–both essential to remove the one trillion tons of excess CO2 in the atmosphere. 
  • None of the leading candidates have plans to implement Climate Restoration Emergency Action (CREA). Only Andrew Yang has proposed specific climate restoration solutions critical to winning the fight against climate change.  

CREA is a bold, whole-of-government and global effort to catalyze a fast transition to a net-zero carbon economy by 2030, massive carbon dioxide removal, and climate restoration by 2050– thereby ensuring the survival of humanity and our natural world. 

The CREA Report Card goes beyond other report cards which focus only on switching from fossil fuels to renewables, and do not evaluate candidates’ commitments on reversing global warming and achieving climate restoration. 

Build A Movement 2020 is a newly forming political movement that connects political parties, movements, coalitions, organizations, and individuals to solve the existential threats facing humanity.  This Report Card was co-produced with ClimateChangesEverything.org

For More Info: www.BAM2020.world; www.drpaulzeitz.org

CONTACT: Paul Zeitz, 202-365-6786, drpaulzeitz@gmail.com

Step 4- Unleash political courage: Commit to climate restoration

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Millions marched. 

Now trillions are being reallocated to a UN-backed “responsible banking” pledge that will fight climate change by shifting investments away from fossil fuels.

UN Secretary General António Guterres told us at the Climate Summit in New York this week that these are not unrelated events.  

“Recent action by some countries and businesses, as well as the stunning rise of the youth climate movement, gave him hope that international goals to avoid catastrophic global heating could be met,” The Guardian reported. 

This is how you turn a march into a movement. Even Politico is paying attention. In its “UN Climate Summit Playbook” of Sept 23, it tabbed the Foundation for Climate Restoration’s White Paper as a BIG IDEA for change. As a Senior Policy Advisor for this effort, I couldn’t be more pleased with the traction we’re getting. 

Simply put, the world is listening. 

Candidates lagging

Well, most of it is anyway. Guterres noted the absence of support from the U.S., China, Australia and Brazil, countries with a long history as part of the problem, not the solution. Which is exactly why we are building a movement right here in the United States leading up to the election in 2020. Because, for all the talk about this climate emergency, our country’s leaders are not doing nearly enough. The status quo is no longer acceptable.

Take a look: 

Guterres told us that the world is not on track to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or the Paris climate agreement; If we maintain our current pace we will only be halfway there by 2030. Halfway during a global climate emergency is not good enough. 

So why aren’t more candidates on board? Because political will has long taken precedence over political strides, and even with ambitious ideas from many of the Democratic candidates, fear over the politics of Climate Restoration remains a serious obstacle. 

“Only three of the top ten candidates — Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Andrew Yang — are explicitly calling to invest in technology (to remove carbon from the atmosphere), despite the fact that many experts believe limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) depends on it,” said a report by The Grist. 

This represents a serious obstacle to the United States full-scale engagement in Climate Restoration that is absolutely essential. 

Courage over fear

Fear has long held back politicians. There is nothing new there. But how do we push them past the fear? We insist. This is step 4 of our roadmap from a march to movement. 

STEP 4: Unleash Political Courage. 

In case you missed them, here are the first three steps: 

STEP 1: Forge systemic change:

STEP 2: Demand More:

STEP 3: Consolidate our Focus: 

Politicians may not do as much as we’d expect or like, but they do listen. They are hearing us now. They saw us out in the streets. They are seeing how young people all over the country are engaged and insistent. 

That’s why we must Build a Movement 2020. We must be large enough and loud enough to break the political fear against Climate Restoration and ensure proper legislation is enacted. Our BIG IDEA must become a plan of action. 

Let’s take our march online today. Here are two simple steps you can do to help break the political fear. 

  1. Write every candidate for president from both parties and insist they support Climate Restoration. 
  2. Share this post on your social networks and invite everyone you know to text BAM2020 to 52866 and join this movement.

Let’s break the fear and push to solutions. Humanity depends on it.