Dear colleagues, 
I signed this letter and hope many of you will as well.
Best,
Jim 

James Byrne, PhD, Professor

"Our job is not to objectively document the decline of Earth’s biodiversity and humanity … summon our voices and start shouting from rooftops: 'We don’t have to settle for cataclysm’.”
Sarah Myhre

From: Shaye Wolf <swolf@biologicaldiversity.org>
Date: Wednesday, July 13, 2016 at 5:45 PM
To: 'Shaye Wolf' <swolf@biologicaldiversity.org>
Subject: Scientist sign-on letter: End coal leasing on public lands to protect the climate, public health, and biodiversity

Dear Colleagues,

 

Please join a scientist sign-on letter urging the U.S. Department of the Interior to end coal leasing on public lands to be consistent with national climate objectives and protect public health and biodiversity.

 

It’s a critical time to weigh in on reforms to federal coal leasing. The Department of the Interior is embarking on a comprehensive review of the environmental impacts of the federal coal program. The Secretary of the Interior has the authority to halt new coal leasing from public lands for the purpose of protecting public health and welfare. In fact, the Department recently instituted a ground-breaking moratorium on new federal coal leasing while the review is taking place.

 

The federal coal program alone contributes 14% of total annual US fossil fuel emissions, meaning that ending federal coal leasing would be an important step in rapidly reducing US emissions, in line with our commitment under the Paris Agreement to keep warming “well below 2°C.”  In addition to climate change impacts, coal mining and burning also lead to a large array of other harms to biodiversity and public health.

 

Please read and sign the letter here: http://goo.gl/forms/GljoeBwQn5QGQbDa2

 

Thank you for joining other scientists who have signed onto the letter, including:

 

Ken Caldeira, PhD, Climate Scientist, Carnegie Institution for Science

James Hansen, PhD, Climate Science Awareness and Solutions, The Earth Institute, Columbia University

Stuart Pimm, PhD, Doris Duke Chair of Conservation, Duke University

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, PhD, Global Change Institute, The University of Queensland

Aradhna Tripati, PhD, Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles

Steven J. Davis, PhD, Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine

F. Stuart Chapin III, Ph.D. Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Alaska Fairbanks

 

Deadline: Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Contact Shaye Wolf at swolf@biologicaldiversity.org with any questions.

 

Shaye Wolf, Ph.D.

Climate Science Director

Center for Biological Diversity

Office: (510) 844-7101

Cell: (415) 385-5746