On Global Warming at NRDC Press Conference

February 7, 2003

"I want to thank the NRDC and The Rolling Stones for creating this event tonight. We are all here to keep the pressure on our politicians and our corporations to recognize the drastic implications of global warming.

The word warming sounds almost inviting, that in a world twenty years from now, we will all be living in a tropical paradise - where the extent of our problems will be pondering which SPF sunscreen to use.

But don't be fooled by semantics, thousands of climate scientists agree that global warming is not only the most threatening environmental problem, but one of the greatest challenges facing all of humanity.

The fact is we are pumping way too much carbon dioxide from our cars, refineries and power plants into the atmosphere much faster than the land and seas can absorb it. The accumulating gas is trapping heat and upsetting the world's climate.

It only took five to nine degrees to take us out of the last ice age. Now a couple degrees difference in today's temperatures may seem insignificant, but again, five to nine degrees is all that separates us from catastrophic global change.

We must break this cycle now - and we must make it a clean break. And the good news is we've never had better solutions. I drove here today in my hybrid vehicle that gets 50 miles to the gallon and has less than half of the pollution of a normal car.

The technology to make safer, cleaner cars and SUVs is here today. Pollution free renewable energy sources from wind and solar power are also available today.

The environmental age is here - let's reduce our dependency on oil, foreign and domestic - let's develop a global politics that accelerates the transition to clean fuels and sustainable energy from renewable sources.

As we progress into the twenty-first century, I urge everyone to adopt an environmental lifestyle. It's not that difficult; make your next car a hybrid, vote for leaders who care about protecting our health, the air and our environment, support non-profits like the NRDC who are actually making a difference.

And let's set an example now for future generations and move environmentalism from being the philosophy of a passionate minority to a way of life that automatically integrates ecology into governmental policy and normal living standards."