Carlisle, Pa., Joins Urgent Call for National Action on Climate Change

Carlisle has joined more than 70 other U.S. cities in supporting the use of the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gas pollution to head off catastrophic climate change. Carlisle's Borough Council, in passing a resolution last week, became the 73rd city to join the Center for Biological Diversity's national Clean Air Cities campaign.

"Climate change poses a serious threat to Carlisle's public health and wellbeing," said Councilman Tim Scott, who introduced the resolution. "That is why I already signed the Resilient Communities for America Agreement, and why Carlisle is joining the Clean Air Cities Campaign to call for urgent use of the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gas pollution."

"Carlisle recognizes the gravity of the global climate crisis, the particular challenges the city will face, and supports one key solution: the Clean Air Act," said Rose Braz, the Center's climate campaign director. "More than 70 cities around the country, from Miami to Salt Lake City to Pittsburgh -- and now Carlisle -- are sending an urgent message to our national leaders: To avert a climate catastrophe, we need to act now."

Climate change in Pennsylvania will cause more heat-related deaths and an increase in ground-level ozone, which is linked to higher incidences of respiratory disease and death, according to a 2009 report from the Environment and Natural Resources Institute at Pennsylvania State University. The report also predicted that climate change will harm the state's water quality and biodiversity and may increase the risk of water-borne disease.

More than 10 percent of Carlisle's students already suffer from asthma, and according to the American Lung Association, the Carlisle area is among the top 25 cities where people are at risk from short-term air pollution. Climate change is likely to seriously exacerbate these health problems.

The Center's Clean Air Cities campaign is working across the country to encourage cities to pass resolutions supporting the Clean Air Act and its ability to reduce the amount of carbon in our atmosphere to no more than 350 parts per million, the level scientists say is needed to avoid catastrophic climate change. The resolutions call on President Barack Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency to take swift action to address climate change.

Similar resolutions have been approved in 72 other U.S. communities: Albany, Buffalo, Ithaca, Red Hook and Yonkers, N.Y.; Bloomfield and Hartford, Conn.; Albany, Berkeley, Santa Monica, Arcata, Oxnard, Santa Cruz, Richmond, Culver City, San Francisco, San Leandro, Fairfax, West Hollywood, Oakland and Los Angeles, Calif.; Seattle, Wash.; Nashville, Tenn.; Kauai and Honolulu, Hawaii; New Hope Borough, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Pa.; Tucson, Ariz.; Boone, N.C.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Milwaukee and Madison, Wis.; Newton, Cambridge, Amherst, Newburyport, Northampton and Concord, Mass.; Cincinnati and Oberlin, Ohio; Keene, N.H.; Santa Fe, N.M.; Kansas City, Mo.; Salt Lake City, Utah; Miami, South Miami, Pinecrest, Tampa, Hallandale Beach, Gulfport, Broward County, Monroe County, St. Petersburg, Key West and West Palm Beach, Fla.; Chicago, Ill.; Teton County, Wyo.; Eugene, Ore.; Boulder, Colo.; Burlington, Vt.; Detroit and Ann Arbor, Mich.; Wilmington, Del.; Providence, R.I.; Gary, Ind.; Woodbridge, N.J.; Portland, Maine; Baltimore, Md.; Arlington County and Charlottesville, Va.; and Washington, D.C. Several other cities around the country will be considering resolutions over the next few months.

Learn more about the Center's Clean Air Cities campaign and get the facts about the Clean Air Act.