How Mayors Are A Leading Voice For National Climate Solutions
Last year, the Obama Administration announced one of the country’s most ambitious climate action plans, the Clean Power Plan (CPP). The aim of the plan is simple: phase in major changes in the way that nation gets its power thereby decreasing pollution and slowing climate change. However, the CPP is now being challenged by a handful of states, and is now on hold until the DC Circuit Court of Appeals hears the case in June of this year.
Despite this setback, climate leaders across the country are continuing to implement the plan. Many are hoping that by acting fast, they can benefit both environmentally and economically. The economic benefits of climate action, and the recognition among city and community leaders of implementing climate solutions, has led to the formation of a strong coalition of mayors backing the CPP. This week, these leaders came together, and penned an amicus brief that will be presented to the court. The contents of the brief are simple: climate change is real and is affecting Americans, and the CPP is “critical to the safety and economic security of local communities across the United States.”
City leaders and mayors are yet again the leading voice on climate. Cities face the greatest consequences of climate change, and are presented to the greatest opportunities. Find out how you can pledge your support for climate action by joining Path to Positive Communities today!
More Than 50 Cities Press Court to Uphold Clean Power Plan, Citing Climate Change Risks
U.S. Conference of Mayors | Market Wired | April 1, 2016
NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwired – April 01, 2016) – More than 50 city and county governments from 28 states, together with The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM), the National League of Cities (NLC), and the mayors of Dallas, Knoxville, and Orlando have signed an amicus brief explaining why the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan is critical to the safety and economic security of local communities across the United States. The brief was authored by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School, and filed in federal court on Friday, April 1st.
The signatories represent a diverse geographic, economic, and political mix and include Miami Beach, Miami and other southeast Florida cities; Tucson; Salt Lake City; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Houston; Jersey City; Pittsburgh; and Boston. Twenty-three of the signatories are local governments within states that have joined the lawsuit against the EPA. In all, the signatories represent 51 localities — home to more than 18 million Americans — and more than 19,000 additional cities, villages and towns that are part of the USCM and NLC networks.