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WASHINGTON, DC, August 25, 2009 – World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has launched a national public awareness campaign urging voters to contact their Senators in support of legislation that would help protect the nation and the world from potentially devastating impacts of climate change.

The campaign officially kicked-off with TV ads debuting in five states that will be key to passage of a climate bill in the US Senate: Alaska, Indiana, Maine, Montana and North Dakota. Nationally, WWF introduced the website, ActForOurFuture.org, which provides information about the impact climate change is already having on the U.S. and how people can actively support climate legislation, which is expected to be introduced in the Senate in early September.

“Climate change is one of the most urgent issues of our times, and without meaningful climate legislation, our legacy to future generations will be a world where many of the places we love and the things we care about will be a thing of the past,” said WWF President and CEO Carter Roberts. “Our campaign brings that message directly to the voters. We’re asking Americans to contact their Senators and ask them to vote ‘yes’ on legislation that will help protect us from the worst consequences of climate change.”

According to the recently released report Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, prepared by 13 federal science agencies, climate change is already having a direct and negative effect on the American people, impacting “water, energy, transportation, agriculture, ecosystems, and health” all across the nation. Every region of the country is experiencing significant, adverse impacts from climate change including more severe droughts, floods, heat waves and wildfires – and these impacts will worsen during the course of the century if action is not taken to slow climate change.

2009 is expected to be a critical year in global efforts to take action, with passage of U.S. legislation viewed as an important step towards gaining agreement from other nations to reduce their emissions during international climate negotiations set for December in Copenhagen.

Passage of climate legislation remains a top priority for the Obama Administration, and those efforts were bolstered in June when the House of Representatives approved the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which places a national limit on greenhouse gas pollution while setting up a market-based framework to bring down emissions in an economically efficient manner. It would also provide funding for U.S. communities to help cope with the impacts that are already being experienced across the nation as a result of climate change.

Similar legislation is expected to be introduced in the Senate the week of September 8 and will likely be voted on later in the Fall.

“Our campaign will encourage Americans to call on Congress to pass strong legislation that will create a clean energy economy and curb the carbon pollution that is causing climate change,” said Roberts.

Visit the campaign site

NOTE TO EDITORS:
To view WWF’s “Act for Our Future” campaign advertisements in Alaska, Indiana, Maine, Montana and North Dakota, visit:  http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=E0E9D419D8014D35