30 Local Elected Officials Join 600 Nationally, Tell President Obama: Act on Climate

Media Contacts

Environment Texas

AUSTIN – President Obama today received a letter signed by 30 Texas elected officials, including El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar and Houston Senators Rodney Ellis and Sylvia Garcia, thanking him for his leadership on addressing climate change and pledging their support as local partners in implementing carbon pollution standards for power plants and other key components of the president’s Climate Action Plan. In total, more than 600 local elected officials from across the U.S. signed the letter.

“We can help you achieve the key pillars of your plan to reduce carbon pollution, especially the first-ever national limits on carbon pollution from power plants,” the letter reads.

Earlier this month, the Obama administration released the third National Climate Assessment, the most comprehensive report yet on the impacts of climate change on the United States. The report was a combined effort of more than 200 scientific experts with input from more than a dozen federal agencies from the National Science Foundation to the Defense Department. It issues grave warnings about the current and future impacts of climate change, including ongoing and worsening drought in Texas.

The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to propose standards limiting carbon pollution from existing power plants within the next two weeks. There will be a year of public comment and states will need to have a compliance plan by June, 2016.