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Health & Fitness

Getting Serious about Climate Change

It’s been a whole year, but communities are still picking up the pieces from Superstorm Sandy and, with their citizens, trying to reclaim a sense of normalcy. What’s scary is that climate change threatens to make extreme weather events like Sandy more frequent and severe in the years ahead.

Hurricane Sandy and dozens of other recent extreme weather events are wake up calls for us all that climate change is not a hypothetical future threat. It is here, today, already affecting the lives of millions of Americans.

For years, scientists have warned about the impacts of human-induced climate change. The report, recently released, of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirms with “near certainty” that humans are the cause and carbon pollution a key driving force of rising temperatures, as well as extreme flood and drought. The report reinforces what the scientific community has been saying for years: the effects of climate change are happening all around us and it’s only going to get worse if something isn’t done to stop it.

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Last year, Hurricane Sandy caused 131 deaths, destroyed more than 380,000 properties, left millions in the Northeast without power, and even disabled New York City’s massive transit system. According to a report by the Center for American Progress, the U.S. government had already spent more than $60 billion to clean up from climate-related disasters in 2011 and 2012, and then doubled that total with Sandy, the second-costliest hurricane in American history.

Thankfully, President Obama has put forward a National Climate Action Plan that will reduce carbon pollution, improve energy efficiency, and make our communities more resilient to the effects of climate change. The President’s plan takes historic steps to reduce carbon pollution from power plants, which we know are our single largest contributor to climate change. In September, the EPA unveiled the first-ever national carbon standard for new power plants. It will do the same for existing plants next year. This is not just good news for our climate, but also for the public health of Minnesotans. 

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The President’s plan is a major step forward not only in protecting public health, but also in spurring innovation in those clean energy technologies that will create jobs and reduce the extreme weather impacts of climate change on Minnesota communities, as well as those throughout the nation.  

Sixty-five percent of voters support “the President taking significant steps to address climate change now.” That is why communities across America, including Eagan, are standing up to make their voices heard.

I invite readers to speak out for protecting our climate by contacting Congressman Kline and Senators Klobuchar and Franken and joining the “I Will Act On Climate” movement online, where you can sign a comment card telling the EPA you support action. See http://www.IWillAct.us/.

As Eagan and communities throughout Minnesota brace themselves for the changing climate, we would do well to support the President’s plan and join the fight. We simply cannot afford to wait until the next superstorm before we get serious about climate change. The time to act is now.

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