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Scientists say that sea levels off the coast of New Jersey could rise two
to four feet by the end of the century, if nothing is done to address global
warming. Such a rise would submerge most of New Jersey’s beaches.
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This summer, thousands of New Jerseyans helped Environment New
Jersey move the governor into action on global warming.
Climate scientists say that the majority of global warming emissions
must be reduced by mid-century to protect us from the worst effects of
global warming. This summer, Environment New Jersey and thousands
of citizens called on the governor to commit to a 20 percent reduction
in global warming pollution by 2020 and 70 percent by 2050, and a
plan to achieve them.
“The solutions to global warming are on-hand. What we need now is
the political leadership to adopt the solutions in a timely fashion,” said
Environment New Jersey Global Warming Advocate Suzanne Leta.
Environment New Jersey outreach staff all across the state went door-to-door from May to August building public support for the effort,
collecting over ten thousand postcards from New Jerseyans and generating
several thousand phone calls into the governor’s office urging
the governor to pledge his support for the plan.
In May, Advocates Doug O’Malley and Suzanne Leta released a map,
based on research by Professor Oppenheimer of Princeton University,
showing that sea level rise from global warming would submerge many
of New Jersey’s coastal treasures by the end of the century, including
the Meadowlands, Cape May and Long Beach Island.
In August, the governor announced he would convene a Global Warming
Summit, to be held in late September, to begin working on a plan.
This summer, spurred on by strong citizen support for global warming
solutions, two New Jersey legislators introduced the Climate Response
Act, which would make the reductions in global warming pollution
called for by Environment New Jersey a mandatory requirement for
global warming polluters. |
