Washington, D.C. – In response to the IPCC Working Group III report release today focused on mitigation, highlighting the importance of limiting warming to 1.5 °C and the inadequacy of current commitments to achieve this goal, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) released the following statement from President Gene Karpinski:

“This latest report from the IPCC, coupled with the Working Group II report released just a few weeks ago, reinforces the urgency of transformational action to address the climate crisis at the scale that science and justice require. We are encouraged to see the IPCC state clearly that clean, renewable energy must power our future, and that we must severely curtail our dependence on fossil fuels and false solutions like unconstrained use of carbon capture technology, hydrogen, and biofuels. As the wealthiest nation in the world and one of the largest historical emitters of climate pollution, the United States has an obligation to swiftly advance our clean energy transition and support less developed countries in meeting their goals.

“First and foremost, the Senate must enact the House-passed $555 billion investments in climate, jobs, and justice, a crucial step in meeting our existing climate commitments. We must also heed the IPCC’s warning that current global fossil fuel infrastructure alone will drive warming above 1.5 °C. We must live up to our climate commitments, including ending fossil fuel subsidies and canceling the development of new fossil fuel infrastructure while supporting a just transition for workers currently employed in the fossil fuel industry. Putin’s horrific war on Ukraine is a reminder that reliance on fossil fuels is dirty, dangerous, and unpredictable. Moving to a clean energy economy will provide greater economic stability, lower energy costs, create jobs, and achieve true energy independence — and it is the only solution to staving off the most detrimental effects of climate change.”

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