GREEN BRIGADE

CARBON-FREE NUCLEAR-FREE BY 2050

REDUCE CO2 TO 350 PPM

PREAMBLE

Credible scientists and climate studies are urging us to

Reduce CO2 emissions by 80% over the coming decade, as proposed by Lester Brown;

Reduce CO2 atmospheric concentrations to 350 ppm, as proposed by    NASA’s James Hansen.

Brown and Hansen point out that failing these goals will bring us to the "tipping point" - a 2 degree Celsius increase in average global temperature, which would throw the planet into a new climate regime with catastrophic consequences for humans and global ecosystems. We would face social and economic chaos.

Therefore, we undersigned citizens urge our government to embark on a massive "Apollo Project" to curb energy use and achieve a carbon-free/nuclear-free economy by 2050 through various means.Solving the global warming and energy crises requires more than new technology. Market prices must reflect true costs if the market system is to work to our benefit. A full-cost pricing system, including consumption taxes, must replace the traditional growth model that rewards increased extraction, production and consumption. The current "free market” rewards growth and profit at the expense of ecological integrity and social welfare.

Development of new technological and entrepreneurial ventures has been suppressed by ill-advised government subsidies and tax breaks that reinforce the use of fossil fuel and nuclear energy. In less-developed countries as well there is an urgent need to end the dependence on fossil fuels. A global Marshall Plan is required to transfer technology and wealth from the wealthy countries to the poorer ones. We must move to a steady-state Conserver Society that makes the redistribution of wealth a major goal alongside ecological sustainability, which it will help create.