Governors Revisit Global Warming

Quebec, Ontario—In August, while summer heats up in the Northeast, the governors of the six New England states will be meeting in Quebec City with premiers from the Eastern provinces of Canada to talk about protecting our coasts, ski slopes, forests, and cherished seasonal climate from the growing effects of global warming.
Building off a landmark agreement (called the New England Governors’ and Eastern Canadian Premiers’ Climate Change Action Plan) signed last August at their annual conference, our state leaders will evaluate progress and contemplate future actions in the race to address this critical social and environmental issue. This year’s conversation will be pivotal: after all, the foresight and leadership our public officials demonstrated in crafting their model climate-saving strategy will be meaningless if it is not swiftly and effectively implemented.

The plan, in a nutshell, looks like this (read it at www.cmp.ca/CCAPe.pdf):

Many New England communities, campuses, and corporations are ahead of the curve in relation to the plan’s goals and action steps. Recognizing the value of energy alternatives and efficiency, these leaders are showcasing socially and economically viable and beneficial ways of reducing their “carbon footprint.”

Political action has also been spurred: Massachusetts passed the first regulations in the nation limiting the emission of carbon dioxide (the main heat-trapping greenhouse gas) before the NEG/ECP plan was even introduced. And earlier this year, New Hampshire created the first legislation in the nation to impose the same sorts of limits—a “4-pollutant bill” aimed at reducing emissions from the electricity sector. (Read more: www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/information/cleanpower.php.) And Washington may finally be taking steps to do the same. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed a national 4 pollutant bill drafted by Senator Jeffords (I-VT) in June 2002 aimed at capping carbon dioxide and other air pollutants.

Also encouraging, four of the six New England states have finished developing their own climate action plans--and Northeastern neighbors, New York and New Jersey, are acting as well. In fact, New Jersey had set an emissions reduction target of 3.5 percent below 1990 levels by 2005, before the NEG/ECP plan was even drafted!

Clean Air-Cool Planet plans to help keep this positive momentum going by hosting a Northeast climate solutions conference in the spring of 2003. The meeting will bring together businesses, campuses, community leaders, policymakers other stakeholders early adopters of climate-friendly strategies to show how state and regional climate change action plans can be implemented. Through sharing successes, ideas, and experiences, these stakeholders will help put the region on a path to genuine climate leadership.

How can YOU get involved? You can effectively influence your leaders’ decisions and actions by staying informed and vocal on climate change issues in New England. To get the scoop on what is happening in your state, call your governor’s office to ask for more information and request a copy of the New England Governors’ and Eastern Canadian Premiers’ Climate Change Action Plan. (You can link to that number online at www.newenglandonline.org/states.html ) The more our leaders hear from us, the more likely they are to take meaningful action to protect the Northeast from global warming.

--Jennifer Andrews