On June 16, 2022, CPR Initiative, along with other citizen experts, formally petitioned the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to phase out oil, gas and coal production, and the associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as necessary to protect and restore a viable climate system.
Towards that end, we also urged the Agency to garner input from highly impacted communities, to learn from experts outside the Beltway, and to gauge the public’s appetite for far-reaching climate action. Regrettably, EPA subsequently denied our Petition on the ground that it was doing enough already to meet the President’s climate goals. In so doing, EPA also implicitly declined to sponsor the hearings we proposed.
In partial response, CPR Initiative commenced our own set of climate action public hearings, including our:
- November 1, 2022, climate action hearing in Boulder, Colorado – in partnership with the City of Boulder,
- September 29, 2023, climate action hearing in Honolulu, Hawaii — in partnership with the University of Hawaii School of Law and the Hawaii Sierra Club,
- January 25, 2024, climate action hearing in Santa Barbara, California — in partnership with the Community Environmental Council of Santa Barbara, and
- August 7, 2024, climate action hearing in Hayward, California — in partnership with the City of Hayward.
We have made the archive of these hearings freely available, including to the Agency. Our goal has been to establish a record for strong additional action.
In addition: On Dec. 13, 2023, in Dubai, UAE, our fundamental demand for action to phase-out oil, gas and coal received a boost, as virtually every nation, meeting at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, agreed to take efforts towards “[t]ransitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.”1Report of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement on its fifth session, held in the United Arab Emirates from 30 November to 13 December 2023, available at FCCC/PA/CMA/2023/16/Add.1.
Garnering your considered thoughts:
Now, even as we complete our evaluation of the expert and citizen testimony received at our public hearings to date, we are aware that some CPR Initiative supporters were unable to attend one or other of the public hearings.
Additionally, to support our construction of a revised citizens’ petition, we seek your considered view on two burning questions:
- Should the major US-based oil, gas and coal companies be required to phase out, by 2050, their production and distribution of oil, gas and coal used in energy systems?
and
- Should the major US-based oil, gas and coal companies be required to remove, or pay to remove, their fair share of excess atmospheric CO2 and methane?
Please provide your considered feedback using the form below (and thank you!).
Towards Effective US Climate Action:
CPR Initiative’s 2024 Citizens’ Petition
Please submit your feedback by midnight (11:59PM PDT) on October 18, 2024.
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Footnotes:
- 1Report of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement on its fifth session, held in the United Arab Emirates from 30 November to 13 December 2023, available at FCCC/PA/CMA/2023/16/Add.1.