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WHEREAS, the National Climate Assessment has identified extreme precipitation, flooding, declining air quality, extremely hot days, and more as observed impacts of climate change in Pennsylvania; and,
WHEREAS, Pittsburgh has experienced many of these extreme weather events, such as heavy precipitation and flooding, major snow storms, and unhealthy air days due to higher temperatures; and,
WHEREAS, numerous authoritative scientific bodies, including the U.S. Global Change Research Program, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have recognized that carbon dioxide pollution created by the burning of fossil fuels is contributing to global warming; and,
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania's power plants are its largest source of carbon pollution, contributing to 47% of its total; and,
WHEREAS, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts v. 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 Environmental Protection Agency's proposed Clean Power Plan sets a target of reducing the carbon emissions rate from Pennsylvania's power plants for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 32 percent by 2030; and,
WHEREAS, the Clean Power Plan gives Pennsylvania the opportunity to design its own plan to meet its carbon reduction targets by investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency; and,
WHEREAS, energy efficiency and renewable energy such as wind and solar are proven, cost-effective alternatives to burning fossil fuels; and,
WHEREAS, the City has released two greenhouse gas inventories to measure emissions that contribute to global warming and has developed a dynamic Climate Action Plan to address this challenge city-wide.
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NOW THEREFOR BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of Pittsburgh respectfully requests that the Pennsylvania Department of Environ...
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