WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Robert Menendez joined senators from New York and Connecticut to urge President Barack Obama to curb carbon pollution from power plants.
Limiting carbon emissions can help reduce climate disruptions that can lead to severe weather events like Superstorm Sandy as well as droughts, floods and wildfires, Menendez and Senators Charles E. Schumer, Kirsten E. Gillibrand (both D-NY), Senators Richard Blumenthal and Christopher Murphy (both D-CT), argue and urge the President to take action.
“We have been working for years to address climate change, but the destruction caused by Superstorm Sandy has brought home the increasing costs of global warming for millions of Americans,” the senators write. “Sandy destroyed tens of thousands of people’s homes and businesses, and inflicted massive damage upon New Jersey’s, Connecticut’s, and New York’s transit systems, infrastructure, and coastline that will take years to repair. Even when the damage caused by Sandy is repaired, the cost of infrastructure projects to mitigate future natural disasters caused by extreme weather events could run into the hundreds of billions of dollars. Superstorm Sandy, and the possibility of even more devastating storms in the future, clearly demonstrates the urgency of squarely addressing the causes of climate change and its effects.”
“While Congress still needs to act on this issue, your Administration can take important steps today,” the letter continues. “In particular, setting carbon pollution standards for existing power plants is a necessity. By taking strong action now, the U.S. can achieve its goals to reduce carbon pollution by 2020. Confronting this crisis will help protect our communities from the increasing costs of climate change – not just the financial cost of rebuilding after extreme weather, but the human cost of putting families and communities back together in the wake of these tragedies.”
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