Statement of EDF on today’s IPCC report

“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that was released today confirms everything we’ve known and feared about climate change, and then raises the stakes significantly. Hundreds of the best scientists from around the world helped compile the report. They are more confident than ever that climate change is caused by human activity, that ocean levels may rise three feet by the end of this century, and that some of the carbon pollution we’re putting into the air now will still be there in one thousand years. The scariest part is that those scientists describe the report and its findings as conservative – meaning it may actually be even worse.

“Today we’ve gotten the strongest evidence yet that we must act to slow climate change. America is starting to take some good steps in the right direction, including EPA’s proposal for our first-ever limits on carbon pollution from new power plants. We need to keep working on good ideas like that, so we can protect our families and our country from the extreme weather, health risks, and other dangers of climate change.”

-       Steve Hamburg, EDF Chief Scientist