Climate change, one of the biggest challenges of our time, is our own self-doing and we can no longer wait to undo it. It is undeniable: the carbon pollution we pump into our air causes climate change, posing a severe risk to the health of Americans every day.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working to help solve that problem with its Clean Power Plan. This plan sets the first ever federal limits on currently unrestricted carbon pollution from existing power plants, invests in clean, renewable energy, and boosts energy efficiency. It will cut carbon pollution by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, giving us the opportunity we need to clean our air while also boosting our economy.
Despite opposition from big corporate polluters the Clean Power Plan receives support from the majority of Americans. And for good reason: we can achieve the goals laid out in the plan which will help produce immediate public health and economic benefits.
The new standards were designed with maximum flexibility for states, allowing each one to craft its own carbon reduction plan to fit its individual needs and build on progress already made. Many of us here in New Mexico are doing our part to help combat climate change and we look to our conservation champions in the New Mexico Congressional Delegation to keep leading the way.
For the sake of our health, it is vital for us to act quickly to reduce the carbon pollution that’s dirtying our air and our lungs. Analyses show that EPA’s proposal to reduce carbon pollution could help prevent up to 150,000 asthma attacks in children and over six thousand premature deaths annually by 2030. It will also help prevent thousands of heart attacks and hospital admissions every year. In all, the Clean Power Plan could provide more than $93 billion in public health and climate benefits.
Polluters and their allies continue to push their self-serving predictions of economic downfall if we institute safeguards that will protect public health. The opposite is true: the economy thrives when we improve air and environmental quality. The Clean Power Plan will not only create jobs, but also will provide major cost benefits. It has the potential to create nearly 275,000 new U.S. energy efficiency jobs in 2020, and to shrink electricity bills by significant margins. Consumers could see up to $45.8 billion in savings on their home electricity bills by 2030 due to EPA’s new standards.
We can’t wait any longer to act on climate. We need to support innovative plans and all efforts to curb the dangerous carbon pollution threatening our public health and environment. Let’s show the rest of the country that here in New Mexico, we are committed to supporting practical and common sense plans that will boost our economy and will give our country the opportunity to curb the carbon pollution that fuels climate changes. You can do this by contacting Representative Steve Pearce and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell today, a national Day of Climate Action.
Wayne D. Hancock
Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners
Commissioner, District 4