Synopsis: A Petition to United States Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska. The World Calls on You to Support Meaningful Climate Change Legislation.

Dear Honorable Ben Nelson;

Following the horrors we experienced on September 11, 2001, the United States asked the rest of the world to stand together by taking terrorism seriously. Throughout the weeks following the terrorist attacks, world leaders repeatedly denounced terrorism and moved to pass sweeping anti-terrorism measures, as demonstrated by the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1373.

Since that tragic day when the lives of 2,973 people were swept away by the attacks, the visible effects of climate change have continued to wrecked the lives of millions of people and threaten millions more, not to mention the future of humanity. In 2008, an astonishing 99% of the natural disasters world-wide were climate related. During the same year, climate-related disasters displaced some 20 million people. These human casualties will only worsen in the future, unless we act. By 2050, 25 million more will go hungry due to the impacts of climate change. Depending on the rate of change, some 25 million to 1 billion people could be displaced by climate change over the next 40 years. Like our pleas for help following September 11, now the rest of the world is asking us to take climate change seriously. It’s about time we do.

We also understand, Honorable Ben Nelson, the importance that energy concerns are for your constituents. But, climate change is more than the interests of particular constituents and the corresponding re-election of one individual. Given this, we should be less concerned about the potential price tag that climate change legislation will have for utilities, manufacturers and consumers, and should instead be thinking about the price tag we are asking the rest of the world to pay for our unwillingness to deal with climate change. After all, as the recent terrorist attempt shows, we will be again asking the rest of the world to continue taking terrorism seriously. Yet, why should they if we are not willing to take global concerns about climate change seriously?

Please, take time to consider the multiple implications of not supporting meaningful climate change legislation. We ask you to put the country and the future humanity as we know it first, and then move to back climate change legislation. To be meaningful, legislation must commit to significant emission cuts in the near future and assistance to helping poor countries adjust to climate change. These times demand public servants willing to take political risks in order to do the right thing. Honorable Nelson, what kind of servant are you?