Evidence 1: “Ensuring future food security therefore can no longer be left to ministries of agriculture alone. Food security is now directly dependent on policy decisions in the ministries of health and family planning, water resources, transportation, and energy. This dependence of food security on an integrated effort by several departments of government is new. And because it has emerged so quickly, governments are lagging far behind in their efforts to coordinate these departments and their agendas.”—Document 29.2: Lester Brown, Outgrowing the Earth

Evidence 2: “Congress finds the following: 1. In June 2005, the Administration announced that it was removing race and class from special consideration in its definition of environmental justice, departing from President Clinton’s 1994 Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice which mandated that all Federal agencies generate agency-specific strategies to address the disproportionate pollution experienced by minority communities. 2. Years before Hurricane Katrina, environmental justice activists were anticipating the racially disproportionate effects of climate change, in terms of coastal flooding and the health effects of heat waves, through the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative (EJCC). As their 2002 fact sheet stated: ‘People of color are concentrated in urban centers in the South, coastal regions, and areas with substandard air quality. New Orleans, which is 62 percent African-American and 2 feet below sea level, exemplifies the severe and disproportionate impacts of climate change in the United States.’”—Document 29.3: Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Environmental Justice Act

Evidence 3: “We’ve subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough. It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that rarely has been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that never has been more promising. Pass clean energy tax credits. Create these jobs.”—Document 29.4: Barack Obama, State of the Union Address

Evidence 4: “Our Earth is warming. Earth’s average temperature has risen by 1.4°F over the past century, and is projected to rise another 2 to 11.5°F over the next hundred years. Small changes in the average temperature of the planet can translate to large and potentially dangerous shifts in climate and weather.”—Document 29.5: Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Change Facts

Evidence 1: “Kyoto is, in many ways, unrealistic. Many countries cannot meet their Kyoto targets. The targets themselves were arbitrary and not based upon science. For America, complying with those mandates would have a negative economic impact, with layoffs of workers and price increases for consumers. And when you evaluate all these flaws, most reasonable people will understand that it’s not sound public policy.”—Document 29.1: George W. Bush, Press Release on Global Climate Change

Evidence 2: “The competition between cars and people for resources does not stop here. Some key food-producing countries, including the United States, are producing ethanol from grain for automotive fuel. In 2004, the United States used some 30 million tons of its 278-million-ton corn harvest to manufacture ethanol for cars. This tonnage, requiring nearly 4 million hectares (10 million acres) to produce, would be enough to feed 100 million people at average world consumption levels. Other countries building grain-fed ethanol plants include Canada and China. The competition between affluent motorists and low-income food consumers is thus not only for the land used to produce food, but also for the food itself.”—Document 29.2: Lester Brown, Outgrowing the Earth

Evidence 3: “I’m directing my administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power 3 million homes. And I’m proud to announce that the Department of Defense, working with us, the world’s largest consumer of energy, will make one of the largest commitments to clean energy in history—with the Navy purchasing enough capacity to power a quarter of a million homes a year.”—Document 29.4: Barack Obama, State of the Union Address

Evidence 4: “The evidence is clear. Rising global temperatures have been accompanied by changes in weather and climate. Many places have seen changes in rainfall, resulting in more floods, droughts, or intense rain, as well as more frequent and severe heat waves. The planet’s oceans and glaciers have also experienced some big changes—oceans are warming and becoming more acidic, ice caps are melting, and sea levels are rising. As these and other changes become more pronounced in the coming decades, they will likely present challenges to our society and our environment.”—Document 29.5: Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Change Facts

Evidence 1: “[T]he Academy’s report tells us that we do not know how much effect natural fluctuations in climate may have had on warming. We do not know how much our climate could, or will, change in the future. We do not know how fast change will occur, or even how some of our actions could impact it.For example, our useful efforts to reduce sulfur emissions may have actually increased warming, because sulfate particles reflect sunlight, bouncing it back into space. And, finally, no one can say with any certainty what constitutes a dangerous level of warming, and therefore what level must be avoided.”—Document 29.1: George W. Bush, Press Release on Global Climate Change

Evidence 2: “12. New Orleans and outlying areas suffered severe environmental damage during Hurricane Katrina, the extent to which has yet to be determined. The post–Hurricane Katrina New Orleans has been described as a ‘cesspool’ of toxic chemicals, human waste, decomposing flesh, and surprises that remain to be uncovered in the sediments. Massive amounts of toxic chemicals were used and stored along the Gulf Coast before the storm. Literally thousands of sites in the storm’s path used or stored hazardous chemicals, from the local dry cleaner and auto repair shops to Superfund sites and oil refineries in Chalmette and Meraux, Louisiana, where there are enormous stores of ultra-hazardous hydrofluoric acid. In the aftermath of the storm some sites were damaged and leaked. Residents across the Gulf Coast and the media reported oil spills, obvious leaks from plants, storage tankards turned on end, and massive fumes.13. Short-term rebuilding objectives must not outweigh long-term public health protection for all people in the United States and the environment on which such people depend.”—Document 29.3: Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Environmental Justice Act

Evidence 3: “But I will not back down from making sure an oil company can contain the kind of oil spill we saw in the Gulf two years ago. I will not back down from protecting our kids from mercury poisoning, or making sure that our food is safe and our water is clean.”—Document 29.4: Barack Obama, State of the Union Address

Evidence 4: “You can take action. You can take steps at home, on the road, and in your office to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the risks associated with climate change. Many of these steps can save you money; some, such as walking or biking to work, can even improve your health! You can also get involved on a local or state level to support energy efficiency, clean energy programs, or other climate programs.EPA and other federal agencies are taking action. EPA is working to protect the health and welfare of Americans through common sense measures to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and to help communities prepare for climate change.”—Document 29.5: Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Change Facts