President Obama announces plan to fight climate change
By Tom Molloy
The President just released his Clean Power Plan – a historic step in the fight against climate change. In the announcement the President cited among other things, that the past three decades, the percentage of Americans with asthma has more than doubled, and climate change is putting those Americans at greater risk of landing in the hospital. Extreme weather events – from more severe droughts and wildfires in the West to record heat waves – and sea level rise are hitting communities across the country. He went on to explain that 14 of the 15 warmest years on record have all occurred in the first 15 years of this century and last year was the warmest year ever.
The Clean Power Plan establishes the first-ever national standards to limit carbon pollution from power plants. The press release states that we already set limits that protect public health by reducing soot and other toxic emissions, but until now, existing power plants, the largest source of carbon emissions in the United States, could release as much carbon pollution as they wanted.
The final Clean Power Plan sets flexible and achievable standards to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. The states will be able to develop tailored implementation plans to meet those goals. When hearing the Republican Parties bitter response to the plan, it’s noteworthy to know that California is well on it’s way to meeting far more aggressive goals/mandates that are already in place in California. Also noteable, is that the Sierra Clubs’ “Beyond Coal Campaign” started in 2002, has resulted in stopping 184 new coal fired power plants from being built, and has assisted to retire 191 all ready up and running coal burning power plants. Keep your donations going to the Sierra club for the great work!
Rim of the Valley study released
A report earlier this year issued by the National Park Service recommended more then doubling the size of the Santa Monica National Recreation area by incorporating half of the proposed Rim of the Valley corridor. The report says that the most practical way to achieve a rim of the valley park network is to expand the boundaries of the SMMNRA to incorporate parts of the Simi Hills, Santa Susana Mountains, the L.A. River to the foothills of the San Gabriels. Many were disappointed that the NPS opted to propose Alternative “C” which expands the park by 173,000. acres vs. Alternative “D,” which would have expanded the park by 313,000. acres. Please advocate for this new parkland, particularly alternative “D.” It is critical to sustain key wildlife linkages, a sustainable wildlife gene pool, and of course recreational opportunities for the millions of people in the surrounding areas. The proposal is available at: www.nps.gov/pwro/rimofthevalley. See the work of the rim of the valley coalition at: www.npca.org/about-us/regional-offices/pacific/samorov.
