Resolution No. 5064 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Resolution Number 5064 A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS POLLUTION UNDER THE CLEAN AIR ACT. The City Council of the City of Eugene finds that: A. The decade from 2000 to 2010 was the warmest on record, and 2005 and 2010 tied for the hottest years on record. (ppm). B. The current level of CO2 in the atmosphere is approximately 392 parts per million C. In 2008, one of the world's leading climate scientists, Dr. James Hansen, stated: "If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm (now 4 years later at 392 ppm) to at most 350 ppm." D. The Environmental Protection Agency determined that current and future greenhouse gas concentrations endanger public health, and according to the Global Humanitarian Forum, climate change is already responsible every year for some 300,000 deaths, seriously affecting 325 million people, and economic losses worldwide of $US 125 billion. E. Extreme weather events most notably heat waves and precipitation extremes, are striking with increased frequency, with deadly consequences for people and wildlife; in the United States in 2011 alone, a record 14 weather and climate disasters occurred, including droughts, heat waves, and floods, that cost at least $US 1 billion each in damages and loss of human lives. F. Climate change is threatening food security as crop growth and yields diminish and droughts, floods and changes in snowpack depth are disrupting water supplies. G. Scientists have concluded that by 2100, as many as one in ten species may be on the verge of extinction due to climate change. H. The world's land -based ice is rapidly melting, threatening water supplies in many regions and raising sea levels, and Arctic summer sea ice extent has decreased to about half what it was several decades ago, with an accompanying drastic reduction in sea -ice thickness and volume, which is severely jeopardizing ice - dependent animals like polar bears. I. Sea level is rising faster along the U.S. East Coast than it has for at least 2,000 years, is accelerating in pace, and could rise by one to two meters in this century, threatening millions of Americans with severe flooding. J. For four decades, the Clean Air Act has protected the air we breathe through a proven, comprehensive, successful system of pollution control that saves lives and creates economic benefits exceeding its costs by many times. Resolution - Page 1 of 2