lo/aJ13 

RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE 

TO TIIE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

IN SUPPORT OF REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS POLLUTION 

UNDER THE CLEAN AIR ACT 

WHEREAS, the decade from 2000 to 2010 was the warmest on record', 2005 and 2010 tied for 

the hottest years on record Z ; and 2012 was the hottest year on record for the contiguous U.S. 3 ; 

and the current level of CO2 in the atmosphere is approximately 397 parts per million 4(ppm); 

and 

WHEREAS, one of the world's leading climate scientists, Dr. James Hansen, stated in 2008: "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 to at most 350 ppm" 5 ; and 

WHEREAS, the Environmental Protection Agency determined that current and future 

greenhouse gas concentrations endanger public health 6, and according to the Global 

Humanitarian Forum climate change is already responsible every year for some 300,000 deaths, 

325 million people seriously affected, and economic losses worldwide of U.S. $125 billion 7

; and 

WHEREAS, extreme weather events, most notably heat waves and precipitation extremes, are 

striking with increased frequency 8 , with deadly consequences for people and wildlife; in the 

United States in 2011 alone, a record 14 weather and climate disasters occurred, including 

drouPts, heat waves, and floods, that cost at least $1 billion each in damages and loss of human 

lives ; and 

WHEREAS, climate change creates conditions that lead to more destructive storms like 2012's 

Superstorm Sandy 10 , by loading storms with more energy and more rainfall ", raising sea levels 

and causing storm surge to ride on a higher sea surface causing more coastline floods 1z , and 

warming the Arctic and melting sea ice, which causes changes in the jet stream that are bringing 

more extreme weather to the U.S. 13 ; and 

WHEREAS, climate change is affecting food security by reducing the growth and yields of 

important crops 14 ; droughts, floods and changes in snowpack are altering water supplies 15 ; as of 

October 2, 2012, 64.6 percent of the contiguous U.S. was experiencing moderate-to-exceptional 

drought 16 ; and in 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated more than half (50.3 

percent) of all U.S. counties disaster areas, mainly due to drought 1

'; and 

WHEREAS, scientists have concluded that by 2100 as many as one in ten species may be on the 

verge of extinction due to climate change 18 ; and 

WHEREAS, the world's land-based ice is rapidly melting, threatening water supplies in many 

regions and raising sea levels 19 , and Arctic summer sea ice extent has decreased to about half 

what it was several decades ago 20, and reached a record low in 2012 21 , with an accompanying 

drastic reduction in sea-ice thickness and volume 22 , which is severelyjeopardizing ice-dependent 

animals23 ; and 
WHEREAS, global sea level is rising 60 percent faster than projected by the Intergovernmental 

Panel on Climate Change 24 ; the U.S. East Coast is a hotspot for sea level rise with rates three to 

four times faster than the global average 25 ; sea level rise is accelerating in pace 2G ; and sea level 

could rise by one to two meters in chis century, threatening millions of Americans with severe 

flooding27 ; and 

WHEREAS, 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 28 ; and 

WHEREAS, with the Clean Air Act, air quality in this country has improved significantly since 

1970, despite major growth both in our economy and industrial production; and 

WHEREAS, between 1970 and 1990, the six main pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act — 

particulate matter and ground-level ozone (both of which contribute to smog and asthma), carbon 

monoxide, lead, sulfur and nitrogen oxides (the pollutants that cause acid rain) — were reduced 

by between 47 percent and 93 percent, and airborne lead was virtually eliminated; and 

WHEREAS, the Clean Air Act has produced economic benefits valued at $2 trillion or 30 times 

the cost of regulation; and 

WHEREAS, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts vs. EPA (2007) that greenhouse 

gases are "air pollutants" as defined by the Clean Air Act, and the Environmental Protection 

Agency has the authority to regulate them; and 

WHEREAS, the City of Charlottesville prides itself on being a leader in the fight against climate 

change and for clean air, became a signatory to the US Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement in 

2006, published its first community greenhouse gases inventory in 2008 with a recent update 

published in 2012, participated in a Local Climate Action Planning Process, has been a major 

partner since the inception of our Local Energy Alliance Program, and continues to pursue and 

implement a broad range of initiatives aimed at reducing emissions; 

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that climate change is not an abstract problem for the 

future or one that will only affect far-distant places, but rather climate change is happening now, 

we are causing it, and the longer we wait to act, the more we lose and the more difficult the 

problem will be to solve; and we, the Charlottesville City Council, on behalf of the residents of 

Charlottesville, do hereby urge the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and 

President Barack Obama to move swiftly to fully employ and enforce the Clean Air Act to do 

our part to reduce carbon in our atmosphere to no more than 350 parts per million. 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Clerk shall forward a copy of this resolution to the 

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and President Barack Obama.