Dear Next President,

The effects of greenhouse gases are becoming more severe as countries become more industrialized. According to UNEP “There is alarming evidence that important tipping points, leading to irreversible changes in major ecosystems and the planetary climate system, may already have been reached or passed. Ecosystems as diverse as the Amazon rainforest and the Arctic tundra, for example, may be approaching thresholds of dramatic change through warming and drying.”1 This is a very serious issue that has to be addressed. In 2011, the United States accounted for 16% of carbon dioxide emissions.2 This is the second highest number next to China. There needs to be some responsibility taken for this. I hope that the next president will give this issue more attention as “It is a growing crisis with economic, health and safety, food production, security, and other dimensions.”3.

I would like to know if there are any plans to change to a healthier power source. I want the next president to give more attention to the future of the United States and the world in general, as the U.S. is a part of it. I am concerned for my future as it will be affected by the environment. Last year, “For the first time since we began tracking carbon dioxide in the global atmosphere, the monthly global average concentration of this greenhouse gas surpassed 400 parts per million in March 2015, according to NOAA’s latest results.”4 As the president, I hope you can see the importance of this issue and rectify it as much as is possible with your power.

Sincerely,

Carlisha

1.http://www.unep.org/climatechange/Introduction.aspx

2. Source: Boden, T.A., Marland, G., and Andres, R.J. (2015). National CO2 Emissions from Fossil-Fuel Burning, Cement Manufacture, and Gas Flaring: 1751-2011, Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, doi 10.3334/CDIAC/00001_V2015.

3. http://www.unep.org/climatechange/Introduction.aspx

4. http://research.noaa.gov/News/NewsArchive/LatestNews/TabId/684/ArtMID/1768/ArticleID/11153/Greenhouse-gas-benchmark-reached-.aspx