Dear Friends,
After years of warnings from scientists and environmentalists that climate change poses a very real threat, we continue to feel the effects. We are experiencing more frequent and intense storms, global temperature increase, rising sea levels and more. On July 8, along with my Senate colleagues Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, I toured areas of South Kingstown and Westerly that are still reeling from Hurricane Sandy, nearly a year after the storm made landfall. In Cranston, homeowners were washed out in the floods of 2010 and some continue to beg for a buyout. These stories are playing out in communities nationwide. I am proud that Sheldon Whitehouse has been a national leader on environmental issues. He recognizes the signs. Last year was the second most extreme climate year on record for the country, and climate-related disasters cost the American economy more than $100 billion in 2012.
It is time we took action.
I commend President Obama for putting a plan in motion. The President’s climate action plan directs the Environmental Protection Agency to work with states and industry to reduce greenhouse gas pollution by power plants, the largest source of emissions in the country. The plan also accelerates investment into clean energy production, with a goal of doubling wind and solar electricity generation by 2020. As a founding member of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), I am proud to support these initiatives, and will continue to fight in Congress for policies that protect our natural treasures and minimize the damaging impacts of human activity on our fragile environment.
This country has ignored the signs for too long. Together, let us be stewards for our environment in our homes, our communities and in Washington.
How do you reduce your carbon footprint, or cut back on energy use? Please share your ideas via email, Facebook and Twitter, and check out my YouTube and Flickr pages.
Sincerely,
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