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President Obama's Clean power Plan is finally here! But it's not enough to stop global warming. To do that we need every Governor to not only comply, but exceed the goals in this plan. Sign here to tell the Seditious Six Governors to lead, follow or get out of the way.
Friend,
Yesterday afternoon, President Obama announced America's first-ever rules limiting global warming pollution from power plants.1 The Clean Power Plan (CPP) has rightfully been called a climate game-changer since power plants account for roughly 40 percent of global warming pollution in the nation and 6 percent of global emissions.2
Now that the plan is out, it's up to every state to write a plan for how they will meet or exceed their goals of cutting global warming pollution. But while Obama's plan is a great first step, it doesn't do nearly enough to cut emissions from the power sector, let alone our economy as a whole.3 States like Kentucky and West Virginia will barely have to do a thing to comply under the EPA's rule; and states like California and Massachusetts could blow past their targets decades in advance.
As a symbol, a market signal, and a message to other world leaders, Obama's Clean Power Plan is a big climate deal - but to do the nitty gritty work of actually shutting down pollution and greening our energy sector we need more. We need all 50 states to more than just comply with the CPP, we need them to dramatically exceed it. And that's what makes the Seditious Six so dangerous.
Six Governors (5 Republicans and a Democrat) have already announced that they will not only ignore the CPP, they'll attack it in the courts and with all their political capital. But climate pollution won't stop at their borders, and the health of their constituents (not to mention our shared environment) is too important to let them get away with it. If you agree, click here to tell the Seditious six, and EVERY governor to embrace and exceed the goals in the Clean Power Plan.
Our climate is like a bathtub: There’s a faucet, or global emissions from human activity, and there’s a drain, or the planet’s ability to absorb emissions. Back in the day the “faucet” and the “drain” were in relative harmony. But when we burn fossil fuels, we create more flow than our drain can handle. Ergo, the solution is not just to stabilize emissions, because this won’t allow the drain to catch up. In order to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide, we must reduce our emissions by a lot, and we needed to do this like ten years ago. And that means we need action above and beyond the CPP from our governors.
In addition to environmentalists, Obama's climate plan earned praise from public health experts who say it will dramatically reduce asthma attacks, heart attacks and other ailments caused or exacerbated by polluted air and global warming. And it was endorsed by dozens of Fortune 500 businesses who embraced the call to move from dirty, polluting power not just for the sake of our planet, but to create jobs and opportunity as well.4 It's true that to change everything, we need everyone, but we've actually convinced NEARLY everyone to take action already -- everyone but the Seditious 6, that is.
States, cities and businesses across the country are already taking action to address the risks of climate change, but these six governors are trying to incite a rebellion on behalf of the fossil fuel industry. The Clean Power Plan is the first rule in U.S. history to fight global warming pollution from power plants -- It's not perfect, but it's a good step toward the climate resilient future we need. Additionally, reducing carbon pollution from power plants will have significant benefits to public health. Who wouldn't want to lead the world in climate action, and save the lives and health of their constituents? These six Governors, that's who. And that's why we're calling them the Seditious Six.
Click here to tell the seditious six to stop messing with Ohio's climate and public health and comply with the Clean Power Plan.
Thanks for all you do,
Drew and the clean up the Clean Power Plan crew at Environmental Action
1. Anthony Rogers-Wright, The Clean Power Plan Cannot Exist In a Vacuum, Environmental Action Blog, Aug. 3, 2015
2. Rankings: Total Carbon Dioxide Emissions. U.S. Energy Information Administration. 2012
3. MICHAEL GRUNWALD, 5 reasons Obama’s transformative power plan won’t transform anything, Politico, Aug. 4, 2015
4. US. EPA, The Clean Power Plan Protects Our Environment, Health & Economy
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