To President-elect, Donald Trump,

We, concerned Americans, ask that you please carefully consider the potentially disastrous impacts your energy and regulation policies will have on our future. Our hope is that when you become president, you will confer with and give reasonable deference to legitimate experts in the fields of energy and climate change who may guide your policies in an informed and sustainable direction.

Climate change is considered by a host of world leaders in both business and government to be the single greatest threat facing the future of the global economy and humanity in general. (See the Statement of G8 Climate Change Roundtable, created by 23 of the world’s leading global companies, which calls on businesses and governments to coordinate vigorous responses to climate change. See also statements made by President Obama in his 2015 State of the Union Address, as well as statements from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President of the French Republic Francois Hollande, Pope Francis, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, among others. See also “The Paris Agreement,” negotiated at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, in which more than 100 countries agreed to make efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with the aim of slowing the effects of climate change). If we do not change our global behaviors, we will continue on a path of devastating and irreparable damage to our health, our economy, and our planet, which eventually will no longer be able to sustain human life.

According to the EPA, unless we take immediate actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and avoid many of the adverse impacts of climate change, the U.S. in particular faces grave consequences which are expected to increase in both magnitude and frequency over the coming decades, with significant risks to human health, the economy, and the environment (EPA. 2015. Climate Change in the United States: Benefits of Global Action. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Atmospheric Programs, EPA 430-R-15-001.). The EPA estimates that inaction will cost the U.S. $trillions in damages and remediation over the next 75 years. Without greenhouse gas emission reduction programs, unmitigated sea level rise and storm surge will wreak havoc on our infrastructure, causing an estimated $3.1 billion in additional damages to coastal properties in the year 2100 (as compared to a future with policy action), $4.2-$7.4 billion associated with maintenance and repair of roadways and bridges that will become structurally compromised, and $50 million-$6.4 billion in costs to adapt our stormwater drainage systems (Id. at 32). Extreme temperatures and increased air pollution will result in an estimated 57,000 additional deaths from poor air quality, 12,000 additional deaths from extreme temperatures, approximately $110 billion in lost labor, and $2.6-$3 billion in damages from poor water quality (Id. at 22). Increased inland flooding would cause anywhere from $38 million-$2.8 billion in damages (Id. at 52). Severe and extreme droughts would increase by 40%-59%, causing the loss of an additional 6.0-7.9 million acres of forests to wildfires, and water shortages costing key economic sectors $11-$180 billion in damages (Id. at 50). Changes in temperature and precipitation, more frequent and severe extreme weather events, and increased stress from pests and diseases will cost the agricultural sector $6.6-$11 billion, and the forestry sector $520 million to $1.5 billion in damages (Id. at 58). Changes in migrations; habitat shifts; food chain disruptions; and increases in pathogens, parasites, and diseases will elevate the risk of extinction for many species (Id. at 64). By 2100, approximately 35% of Hawaii’s coral reefs will be lost, the shellfish population will decrease by approximately 29%-37%, and an estimated 230,000-360,000 acres of coldwater fish habitat will be lost (Id). Furthermore, storm surges, increased temperatures and effects on the water supply will stress our aging power grids, costing the U.S. an estimated $10-$34 billion in power system costs (Id. at 44).

We understand that your primary concern is economic security and global preeminence in our present time, but are you willing to achieve this regardless of its unsustainable consequences and at the cost of continued severe and irreversible harm to our future security and our environment?

You want to invest in the continued development of fossil fuels rather than develop clean, renewable technology. You claim that these natural resources are a treasure trove of economic opportunity for America, a gold mine which will lead to millions of jobs and energy independence. Even if this were true, the continued and expansive use of fossil fuels will have disastrous consequences on public health and our economy in the future. Increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, and the deterioration of biodiversity as a result of increased air pollutants will destroy our coastlines, infrastructure, and agricultural sectors, inevitably sending us into a state of national emergency which will cost $trillions to address. The shortsighted pursuit of economic superiority is not worth the risk to the safety and security of America’s future. We believe, rather, that moving away from fossil fuels and investing in clean energy technologies, such as solar, wind, geothermal, and even nuclear can more sustainably lead America to energy independence and economic superiority, as well as a healthy climate.

Your “America First Energy Plan” proposes to unleash the wealth of America’s fossil fuel reserves, including “clean coal,” and “[e]ncourage[s] the use of natural gas and other American energy resources that will both reduce emissions but also reduce the price of energy and increase our economic output.” (https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/energy/). How will this be done in concert with reducing emissions and conserving our natural habitats, as the plan claims? Let alone while preserving the overall wellbeing of our most valuable resource—our environment?

You claim that investing in “clean coal” technology will lower our energy costs while creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs. You want to “[e]liminate our most intrusive regulations, like the Waters of The U.S. Rule,” and “scrap the EPA’s so-called Clean Power Plan which the government estimates will cost $7.2 billion a year.” (https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/regulations/). But experts estimate that Carbon Capture and Storage technology—methods used to make "clean coal" production possible—will cost anywhere from $15-$30 billion to implement over the next 10 years, and will be less cost effective than conventional power plants (Garber, Kent. "Why Clean Coal Is Years Away." US News. U.S. News & World Report L.P., 17 Mar. 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.). And while we will be investing America’s future in this hazardous and eventually obsolete technology, we will be falling behind other nations in the advancement of renewable alternatives, which will significantly disadvantage our economic position in the future.

In the meantime, expanding coal production and fracking for natural gas will have devastating impacts on our communities and natural environment. Many of the mountains and hillsides which so many Americans enjoy and depend on will be stripped away for mining. Valuable waters of the United States will be used and contaminated. A growing number of miners will face increased safety and health risks, of whom 50-60 die every year in mining accidents (Kerley, David, and Michael Murray. "Mining: The Most Dangerous Job?" ABC News. ABC News Network, 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.). Increasing amounts of energy will be required and disturbing levels of pollution emitted in the transportation of coal and other resources. Moreover, it must be considered that even with “clean coal” technology, waste is not actually avoided but simply transferred from one depository, like the atmosphere, to another, like the sea or beneath the earth’s surface (IPCC special report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage. Prepared by working group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Metz, B., O. Davidson, H. C. de Coninck, M. Loos, and L.A. Meyer (eds.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 442 pp. Available in full at www.ipcc.ch).

President-elect Trump, we worry that your plans ignore the long-term consequences of their implementation. You want to make our economy great again, but we are concerned that it will be at the risk of bankrupting our environment and America’s future. Please tell us in detail how you plan to address these issues, and what you plan to do not only to make America great again, but to ensure that it remains that way for generations to come.