Click here to read the article. Here’s an excerpt:
Climate change is real, and it is already affecting those of us who live, work, and play in Colorado. The longer we wait to cut our carbon pollution, the direr the consequences will be for our state, economy, and communities.
It will take a coordinated effort to address the climate crisis. Unfortunately, President Trump recently pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement, which set an international goal to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, the level scientists say is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
In the wake of Trump’s decision, businesses, cities, universities, and states have committed to their own climate actions to reduce carbon pollution levels and avoid catastrophic impacts. Colorado Governor Hickenlooper has also issued an Executive Order to reduce pollution by 26% by 2025. For Colorado to achieve these goals, we need to do more, but the question remains: how?
Our new research lays out what Colorado needs to do to play our part in reducing emissions and reaching goals to prevent 1.5° – 2°C of warming. You can read the full report, “Colorado’s Climate Blueprint: Actions for Addressing Climate Change and Safeguarding Our Future,” or stick with us here for the highlights.
The bottom line is that Colorado’s elected officials and the current and future governors need to:
1. Adopt state-wide carbon pollution goals: we should reduce emissions economy-wide by 45% below 2005 levels by 2030 and 90% by 2050. Governor Hickenlooper’s executive order in July 2017 set a goal of a 26% reduction by 2025, but goals further into the future are needed.
2. Advance policies that drive carbon pollution reductions in key sectors: we must cut carbon pollution from Colorado’s largest sources, which includes power plants, transportation, and buildings.
3. Enact a market-based policy to reduce carbon pollution: this could be a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade program.