Americans and Climate Change: Closing the Gap Between Science and Action. A Synthesis of Insights and Recommendations from the 2005 Yale F&ES Conference on Climate Change. Athor: Daniel R. Abbasi, With a Foreword by James Gustave Speth.

A gathering of extraordinary Americans were asked why the robust and compelling body of climate change science has not had a greater impact on action. This report details their findings and recommendations.

Executive Summary:  Why has the robust and compelling body of climate change science not had a greater impact on action, especially in the United States?

From the policy-making level down to personal voting and purchasing decisions, our actions as Americans have not been commensurate with the threat as characterized by mainstream science.

Meaningful pockets of entrepreneurial initiative have emerged at the city and state level, in the business sector, and in “civil society” more generally. But we remain far short of undertaking the emissions reductions that scientists say are required if we are to forestall dangerous interference in the climate system on which civilization depends.

In late 2005, the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies convened 110 leaders and thinkers in Aspen, Colorado, and asked them to diagnose the reasons for this posited action shortfall and to generate recommendations to address it. This report discusses findings from that gathering of extraordinary Americans.

Part I of this report is a synthesis that highlights eight selected themes from the Conference, each of which relates to a cluster of diagnoses, recommendations, and important lines of debate or inquiry. Part II describes the diagnoses and 39 recommendations from the eight working groups. The eight themes and ten of the most prominent recommendations are spotlighted below...

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Cover Image: The image on the cover is a snapshot from a climate simulation model that runs from 1920-2080. The model is being run by harnessing desktop computers around the world at climateprediction.net, a collaborative project of the University of Oxford, the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and others. Used with permission. To participate in the model using your desktop computer, go to: www.climateprediction.net

Visit Yale Project on Climat Change Official Website

Climate change solutions require leadership from all sectors of society. Through the Yale F&ES Project on Climate Change, recommended Action Items have emerged for each of the influential areas listed below. We invite you to join us in exploring these ideas and recommendations.

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