Communities Unite to Urge Obama, EPA to Make Ambitious Use of Clean Air Act to Curb Greenhouse Gas Pollution
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.–(ENEWSPF)–November 26, 2013. Great Barrington and Williamstown, Mass., have joined scores of other U.S. cities in calling on President Barack Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency to make full use of the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gas pollution to head off catastrophic climate change. Through resolutions passed Monday by the boards of selectmen in both towns, Great Barrington and Williamstown became the 75th and 76th communities to join the Center for Biological Diversity’s national Clean Air Cities campaign.
“Climate change threatens our health, as well as key economic sectors such as agriculture, skiing and tourism,” said Sean Stanton, chairman of Great Barrington’s Select Board, who introduced the resolution in his town. “That is why we are urging the president and the EPA to fully implement the Clean Air Act to combat climate change.”
Average winter temperatures in Massachusetts are already rising and are expected to increase by up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century, according to the state’s climate change adaptation report. Ski Butternut in Great Barrington is among more than 100 ski areas that have signed the Climate Declaration calling for U.S. action on climate change. Rising temperatures will also cause more heat waves and exacerbate respiratory problems in Massachusetts, which already suffers from one of the nation’s highest rates of adult asthma.
The Center’s Clean Air Cities campaign is working across the country to encourage cities to pass resolutions supporting urging and supporting the EPA to use the Clean Air Act to reduce the amount of carbon in our atmosphere to no more than 350 parts per million, the level scientists say is needed to avoid catastrophic climate change. The resolutions call on President Barack Obama and the EPA to take swift action to address climate change.
Similar resolutions have been approved in 74 other U.S. communities: Albany, Buffalo, Ithaca, Red Hook and Yonkers, N.Y.; Bloomfield and Hartford, Conn.; Albany, Berkeley, Santa Monica, Arcata, Oxnard, Santa Cruz, Richmond, Culver City, San Francisco, San Leandro, Fairfax, West Hollywood, Oakland and Los Angeles, Calif.; Seattle, Wash.; Nashville, Tenn.; Kauai and Honolulu, Hawaii; New Hope Borough, Pittsburgh, Carlisle and Philadelphia, Pa.; Tucson, Ariz.; Boone and Chapel Hill, N.C.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Milwaukee and Madison, Wis.; Newton, Cambridge, Amherst, Newburyport, Northampton and Concord, Mass.; Cincinnati and Oberlin, Ohio; Keene, N.H.; Santa Fe, N.M.; Kansas City, Mo.; Salt Lake City, Utah; Miami, South Miami, Pinecrest, Tampa, Hallandale Beach, Gulfport, Broward County, Monroe County, St. Petersburg, Key West and West Palm Beach, Fla.; Chicago, Ill.; Teton County, Wyo.; Eugene, Ore.; Boulder, Colo.; Burlington, Vt.; Detroit and Ann Arbor, Mich.; Wilmington, Del.; Providence, R.I.; Gary, Ind.; Woodbridge, N.J.; Portland, Maine; Baltimore, Md.; Arlington County and Charlottesville, Va.; and Washington, D.C. Several other cities around the country will be considering resolutions over the next few months.
Learn more about the Center’s Clean Air Cities campaign and get the facts about the Clean Air Act.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 625,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Source: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org
