In October, the EPA headed by Oklahoma earthquake lover Scott Pruitt announced its intentions to repeal the Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources. A group of 236 mayors in 47 states sent a letter to the EPA on Tuesday outlining why Pruitt should reconsider this position.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is essential to protect our citizens against the worst impacts of climate change. A peer reviewed study conducted by EPA projected stark differences between a world in the year 2100 where global warming averages 2 degrees Celsius—a goal for which the Clean Power Plan is critical—and one in which global warming averages 4 degrees Celsius: 57,000 fewer domestic deaths per year due to poor air quality; 12,000 fewer domestic deaths per year from extreme heat and cold in 49 U.S. cities; up to $6.4 billion in avoided annual adaptation costs from severe precipitation in 50 U.S. cities; $3.1 billion in avoided annual damages and adaptation costs from sea level rise and storm surge on the coasts; and up to $2.5 billion in avoided damages from inland flooding.
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Not only are climate change impacts felt locally — our communities are also where climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts are being implemented. Urban, suburban, and rural communities across the country are reducing their contributions to greenhouse gas emissions by investing in energy efficiency, committing to the use of clean energy resources, and reducing reliance on fossil-fueled energy sources—efforts that protect against climate change, and also support clean air and a vibrant clean energy economy.
But the legal authority of cities and other municipalities generally extends only as far as their state governments and federal law allow, and as a result, our local efforts to address climate change are highly sensitive to national policies like the Clean Power Plan, which shape markets, steer state action, and have large direct impacts on nationwide emissions.
It is very clear that one of EPA chief Scott Pruitt’s “jobs” at the EPA is to declaw any and all environmental protections, and he’s been incredibly hands-on with repealing the Clean Power Plan. As Inside Climate News reminds us, this is the reason states and cities are doing more than simply writing letters to the swamp-clogged government.
A study released earlier this month had similarly dire warnings about sea level rise, showing with satellite data how sea level rise is accelerating. It found that by the end of the current century, coastal communities could see an additional four inches of sea level rise each decade.
Across the country, states and cities have taken action to combat climate change, either through adaptation measures, or by filing lawsuits—as in coastal California and New York City—that aim to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for climate change impacts.
We know that the Republican Party considers most Americans’ lives to be cheap—look at our non-existent gun laws—and their environmental attacks shows that they are hellbent on the concept of life itself being cheap.