Dear Mr. and Mrs D’Aleo

Thank you for writing to me about climate change.  I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this issue. 

I believe that addressing climate change is more than an urgent scientific imperative.  It is also tremendous economic opportunity.  We have a chance to create millions of new green jobs here at home, and help spark a global recovery that brings clean growth to the developing world and lasting benefits to all of us. 

Global climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing the international community today.  Right now, the most critical trends and facts all point in the wrong direction.  The CO2 emissions that cause climate change grew at a rate four times faster during the Bush Administration than they did in the 1990s.  Two years ago, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a series of projections for global emissions, based on likely energy and land use patterns.  Well, today our emissions have actually moved beyond the worst case scenarios predicted by all of the models of the IPCC.  Meanwhile, our oceans and forests, which act as natural repositories, are losing their ability to absorb carbon dioxide.  This means that the impacts of climate change are being felt stronger than expected, faster than expected.

I believe we must accept the reality of what the science is telling us and act in accordance with the full scope and urgency of this problem.  Right now, we have the rare opportunity to avert the climate disaster of tomorrow while helping address our economic challenges of today. Transitioning to a low carbon economy creates tremendous opportunities for economic growth and job creation.  Energy is a $6 trillion market with opportunities for innovation and growth that dwarf any other sector.  Investments in energy efficiency and renewable produce roughly 3.5 times more jobs per dollar than spending on fossil fuels and green jobs pay 17 percent more than the median national income.  We can’t afford not to act. 

I’ve been working with the Congress and with the Obama Administration to make reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions a top priority.  In June 2009, the House of Representatives took a decisive stand and successfully passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act.  I am working with my colleagues to pass similar legislation in the Senate.  In October 2009, Senator Boxer and I introduced the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S.1733), which will cut carbon pollution and stimulate the economy by creating millions of jobs in the clean energy sector.  Additional information about this bill can be found on my website

As Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, I am working closely with the Obama Administration to ensure that the United States takes a leadership role in developing a global agreement to address climate change. In December 2008, I attended the latest round of global climate change negotiations in Poznan, Poland.  One resounding message emerged from these meetings: the world is anxiously waiting for the United States to act.  In December 2009, the world meets in Copenhagen to negotiate to craft a new global treaty to address climate change.  I intend to be there and will do everything I can to assure we have a strong international treaty to be ratified in the Senate.

Please be assured I will continue to fight for significant climate change legislation in the United States as well as an international agreement on climate change in Copenhagen this December. 

Again, thank you for your letter.  Please do not hesitate to contact me again about this or any other issue of importance to you here.

Please feel free to educate the senator and his staff who obviously don’t have a clue about what is really going on with the climate nor with energy. My guess is you will get the same form letter, but his staff and maybe the senator will have their confidence shattered if they hear from a lot of people. He may not respond if you are not in Massachusetts. if you have a friend there you may wish to send him an email c/o that friend. This will force Kerry’s staff to respond. Be sure to remind him of the failures of the green job movement in Europe - Spain, Denmark and the UK, Germany and in Canada.

Also see this SPPI response to Kerry here.

See how Kerry is wrong w/r to US emissions during the Bush era in this chart by James Taylor, Heartland.