Title
Resolution in Support of Reducing Greenhouse Gas Pollution Under the Clean Air Act
Body
WHEREAS, the Environmental Protection Agency determined that current and future greenhouse gas concentrations endanger public health; and
WHEREAS, extreme weather events, most notably heat waves and precipitation extremes, are occurring with increased frequency; in 2011, the U.S. experienced a record 14 weather and climate disasters, including droughts, heat waves, and floods, that cost at least $1 billion each in damages and loss of human lives; and
WHEREAS, climate change creates conditions that lead to more destructive storms like 2012's Superstorm Sandy; and
WHEREAS, climate change is affecting food security; and in 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated more than half (50.3 percent) of all U.S. counties disaster areas, mainly due to drought; and
WHEREAS, for four decades, the Clean Air Act has protected the air we breathe through a proven, comprehensive successful system of pollution control that saves lives and creates economic benefits exceeding its costs by many times; and
WHEREAS, with the Clean Air Act, air quality in this country has improved significantly since 1970, despite major growth both in our economy and industrial production; and
WHEREAS, between 1970 and 1990, the six main pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act-particulate matter and ground-level ozone (both of which contribute to smog and asthma), carbon monoxide, lead, sulfur and nitrogen oxides (the pollutants that cause acid rain)-were reduced by between 47 percent and 93 percent, and airborne lead was virtually eliminated; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts vs. EPA (2007) that greenhouse gases are "air pollutants" as defined by the Clean Air Act and the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate them; and
WHEREAS, the City of San Leandro is committed to supporting efforts for clean air and has adopted a Climate Action Plan, as well as implemented steps to reduce our carbon footprint.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that climate change is not an abstract problem for the future or one that will only affect far-distant places; and that we, the City Council of the City of San Leandro, on behalf of the residents of San Leandro, do hereby urge the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and President Barack Obama to move swiftly to fully employ and enforce the Clean Air Act; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Clerk of the City of San Leandro shall forward a copy of this resolution to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and President Barack Obama.