In response to President Trump’s plan to roll back the Clean Power Plan, which the Obama Administration introduced in 2015 to set the first national limit on the amount of carbon dioxide pollution that can be produced by power plants, leaders from Oregon, Washington, and California have joined together to voice their support for environmental precautionary measures. The West Coast governors and mayors wrote a letter reaffirming their support of the Clean Power Plan, boldly stating that they will continue to promote clean energy in their states no matter the president’s agenda.
“We speak as a region of over 50 million people with a combined GDP of $2.8 trillion. There is no question that to act on climate is to act in our best economic interests. Through expanded climate policies, we have grown jobs and expanded our economies while cleaning our air,” said the governors of California, Oregon and Washington as well as the mayors of Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles.
They also urged cities, states and businesses from around the country to join them to cut carbon emissions where they live and to help “reverse the damaging impacts to our communities of unfettered pollution.” It will be evermore necessary that we citizens take environmental actions into our own hands since the EPA’s budget will most likely be cut by 31 percent, representing a cut larger than any other agency.
Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington spoke strongly representing his state: “President Trump’s decision to ax the Clean Power Plan cedes U.S. global leadership and increases the risk that climate change will continue to damage our state. We can’t afford to slow our efforts, and we won’t.”
These states’ promise to keep environmental concerns on the front line of their politics because of the socio and economic impacts that climate change has is transparent; the letter stated, “We will honor our commitments to our communities to do what’s right to keep our residents safe, secure, healthy and prosperous as we accelerate our clean energy economy and put the interest of our people before those of big polluters. We will continue to invest in clean energy that creates local jobs and keeps utility bills low, and we will electrify transportation to provide convenient, safe, and affordable ways to get around our cities, and make our neighborhoods healthy and vibrant.”
Sources: Second Nexus, Seattle Pi, CBS Bay Area
