Bryan Walsh, Environmental staff writer, Time, April 28, 2008, Retrieved July 6, 2008,

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1730759_1731383_1731363-1,00.html
We are now faced with a similarly momentous challenge: global warming. The steady deterioration of the
very climate of our very planet is becoming a war of the first order, and by any measure, the U.S. is losing.
Indeed, if we're fighting at all—and by most accounts, we're not—we're fighting on the wrong side. The
U.S. produces nearly a quarter of the world's greenhouse gases each year and has stubbornly made it clear
that it doesn't intend to do a whole lot about it. Although 174 nations ratified the admittedly flawed Kyoto
accords to reduce carbon levels, the U.S. walked away from them. While even developing China has
boosted its mileage standards to 35m.p.g., the U.S. remains the land of the Hummer. Oh, there are vague
promises of manufacturing fuel from switchgrass or powering cars with hydrogen—someday. But for a
country that rightly cites patriotism as one of its core values, we're taking a pass on what might be the most
patriotic struggle of all. It's hard to imagine a bigger fight than one for the survival of the country's coasts
and farms, the health of its people and the stability of its economy—and for those of the world at large as
well.

Robert N. Stavins, Professor of Business and Government at Harvard University, A US Cap-and-Trade

System to Address Global Climate Change, October 2007, Retrieved on July 6, 2008,
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2007/10climate_stavins/10_climate_stavins.pdf
“Given these realities, a major strategic consideration in establishing U.S. climate policy should be to
establish international credibility and lead other countries to take action. For this it is essential that the
United States be perceived as taking on an equitable share of the burden. The proposal presented in this
paper offers a way for the United States to demonstrate its commitment to an international solution while
making its own real contribution to combating climate change.”

John Podesta, Todd Stern, and Kit Batten, President, Managing Director for Energy and Environmental
Policy, and Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, Capturing the Energy Opportunity,
November 2007, Retrieved on July 6, 2008,
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/11/pdf/energy_chapter.pdf
“Second, the technologies needed to promote low-carbon economies are increasingly produced and sold in
a global market. When America buys compact fluorescent lamps, most of them are made in China, so China
automatically develops the manufacturing technology to use them domestically. When America requires
that computers and TVs become more efficient, it affects the market in India and Africa. And conversely,
when America lags in efficiency or renewable energy technology, either the rest of the world also lags or
else other developed countries grab the market and control the export sales to the developing world.”

Steve Kemper, Award-winning freelance journalist and recipient of a grant from the W. Alton Jones
Foundation for environmental investigation, Environment: Yale Magazine, Fall 2007, Retrieved on July 6,
2008, http://environment.yale.edu/news/5510/plans-to-cap-greenhouse-gases-target-fossil/
“Countries without such regulations, which currently include the United States, are the biggest international
issue. Everyone agrees that action on CO2 by the United States ultimately will be irrelevant unless big up-
and-coming polluters such as China and India follow suit and pass their own strict regulations. According
to the National Commission on Energy Policy, China is opening a new coal-burning power plant every
seven to 10 days. The International Energy Agency estimates that in 2009 – a decade ahead of previous
estimates – China will surpass the United States as the world’s biggest emitter of CO2. India expects its
coal consumption to triple over the next 30 to 40 years, says Repetto, who has started studying the issue.
But neither China nor India is likely to do anything about CO2 unless the United States, which is
responsible for the lion’s share of the accumulated greenhouse gases caused by fossil fuels, acts first.”