U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck today lead a discussion at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York about climate change and its impacts in the Hudson Valley. The discussion will center on President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, released on June 25, 2013. It will also focus on strategies already being implemented to mitigate the effects of climate change and new approaches to reduce and better prepare for its impacts.
“2012 was the hottest year on record and there is no doubt that climate change is already here in the Hudson Valley,” said Judith A. Enck, EPA Regional Administrator. “Taking action to cut greenhouse gases and better withstand the impacts of climate change is critical to protecting the environment and people’s health. It’s also essential to our economy, with recovery from severe weather disasters costing billions of dollars each year.”
Climate change impacts range from more frequent and severe storms, floods, heat waves and wildfires to increased risk of asthma attacks and longer allergy seasons. In 2012 alone, the cost of weather disasters exceeded $110 billion in the United States, and climate change will only increase the frequency and intensity of these events.
The President’s Climate Action Plan includes actions to make communities more able to withstand the impacts of climate change and the development of new rules to cut carbon pollution, similar to standards for other toxins like mercury and arsenic. It also contains actions to bolster renewable energy sources that will create good jobs and lower home energy bills. For more details on the plan, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/climate-action-plan.
For more information about what the EPA is doing to address climate change, visit http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/EPAactivities.html.
