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As educators, we owe our young people a day of focused discussion about the critical policy decisions our nation will make over the next few of years regarding global warming pollution. Please sign the letter below, urging colleagues to participate in the national discussion sponsored by Focus the Nation.

List of signatories as of (date) (click to see the list)

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Dear Colleague Letter (Word document download)

To: Faculty and Staff at American Colleges, Universities, and K-12 Schools
From: Fellow Educators
R.E.  A call for a national teach-in on “Global Warming Solutions for America”

Dear Colleagues,

We stand at a unique moment in human history. Decisions we will make in the United States over the next few years regarding controls on global warming pollution and investments in clean energy solutions will have a profound impact not only on our lives and the lives of our children, but indeed for every human being who will ever walk the face of the planet from now until the end of time. Unchecked, global warming will pose severe challenges to human welfare, and will drive a significant percentage of the e’s animals, plants, and other creatures into extinction. Failure to act soon increases the likelihood of a swing in global temperatures of Ice Age magnitude, only in the opposite direction, within our student’s lifetimes. We have a window of time now for action that can hold future warming to the low end of the possible range, and in so doing, create the foundation for a just and sustainable future.

As educators, we owe our young people at least a day of focused discussion about these key decisions. Therefore, we the undersigned urge you to participate in a national teach-in on the climate change challenge: Focus the Nation. This initiative is coordinating teams of faculty, students and staff at colleges, universities, high schools, middle schools and elementary schools across the United States, engaging a nationwide discussion about “Global Warming Solutions for America”. From a base in educational institutions, Focus the Nation is also incorporating participation by religious, civic and business organizations, leading up to a national teach-in on January 31st 2008, designed to involve millions of Americans.

Focus the Nation is an educational initiative, but the project also promotes civic engagement. Each Focus team will invite elected officials and other decision-makers to come to campus and participate in a non-partisan, round-table discussion of global warming solutions with students. US Senators and members of congress, state representatives, mayors and city councilors, all will be receiving invitations from over a thousand institutions nation-wide. Every campus will also vote on their top five priorities for action, producing a national student-endorsed policy agenda.

Focus the Nation is growing rapidly. Already more than 1000 institutions have signed up, and over twenty college presidents have endorsed. This national teach-in presents the opportunity to catalyze the country, and indeed, "Focus the Nation" around a non-partisan, reasoned, campus-lead discussion of this defining 21st century issue.

We urge you to form a team at your institution, including faculty, students, and staff, and to sign-up very soon at wwwfocusthenation.org. There you will find a wealth of resources to assist  you in planning an educational event about global warming solutions on or around January 31st 2008. Together, we can help move America beyond fatalism to a determination to face up to this civilizational challenge, the challenge of our generation.

List of signatories (click to see the list)


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