As 2019 comes to a close, we are met with the stark realization that the new year marks the beginning of the most important juncture in the history of our climate, planet, and civilization. The 2020s will define the future of both humanity and planet Earth as our society must take profound action to confront the climate crisis or the world that we have known—both natural and economic—will change drastically.
In order to fulfill our obligations to leave our children and grandchildren with a world that allows them a healthy and prosperous future, we must make significant progress on decarbonizing our entire economic system—from electricity production, the transportation of goods and people, and industrial processes that have built the civilization that we know today.
Over the past two decades, the Great Plain Institute (GPI) has built a national organization rooted in the values and pragmatic knowhow of the American Midwest. We’ve worked across the entire economy to map and drive our shared journey to a decarbonized future. GPI’s history includes significant accomplishments in the growth of renewable energy production from wind, solar, and agriculture, the passage of legislation by the US Congress to incentivize carbon capture and storage, and action in city halls and local governments across the country putting communities at the forefront of climate solutions.
But all this activity needs to crescendo in the decade that starts in just a few days. We have ten years for our society to get on track if we have any hope of reaching net-zero carbon by midcentury. This is our decade!
Therefore in 2020, GPI is launching an Annual Giving program. Annual Giving 2020 is a donor program that allows you to support and scale GPI’s comprehensive strategy to meet our 2030 climate obligations.
Give Today!
While GPI is over 20 years old, it is in the past five years that our work has begun to expand from its roots in the American Midwest to a lead agenda item in the national discourse. GPI’s refined approach of convene > inform > agree > act has led to significant industry and policy momentum and has attracted attention—and funding—from many of America’s most well-known philanthropic foundations. In turn, GPI’s budget has grown three-fold and our staff has quadrupled in size to make impactful action on the most pressing challenge of our generation—decarbonizing the American economic system.
We know it’s within our reach to build on this momentum and scale up the most important parts of our work:
- Growing and informing a broad audience of Americans—consumers, investors, and elected officials—who want to positively impact our climate but need to better understand their behaviors, choices, and incentives.
- Aligning innovative technological advances with market participants and policy makers.
- Developing and leading coalitions to broaden and deepen support for decarbonization initiatives with more diverse industries and sectors of the economy.
In 2020, we need Annual Giving to provide GPI with approximately 10 percent of our budget—or $600,000—for the organization to operate at the forefront of our needed energy transformation. This support will continue to scale GPI’s proven program work—during our society’s most pivotal decade—to reach our vital energy and climate goals.
But Annual Giving 2020 is more than an appeal for your financial support, it is an opportunity for you to accomplish something extraordinary—the decarbonization of the American economic system, creating a better world for our children and future generations.
