WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after the Obama Administration announced they would finalize and strengthen the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan to cut carbon pollution:
“Climate change is an urgent threat that requires urgent action. Already we are seeing the cost of climate change in longer and more dangerous wildfire seasons and record-setting droughts that threaten our farming and fishing in the West. America must display bold global leadership in taking on this challenge, and cutting our own emissions is key to persuading other countries to cut theirs.
“By taking the lead in fighting carbon pollution, we not only take steps to reduce the damage already being done all across rural America, but we also seize the opportunity to create jobs and growth as a worldwide leader in renewable energy.
“I applaud the Administration for recognizing that with today’s technology, we can cut even more carbon pollution than this plan originally envisioned, and for strengthening this proposal and enhancing our leadership on the global stage.”
The Clean Power Plan is the most significant step the United States has ever taken to reduce carbon pollution and combat climate change. In December of last year, Merkley and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) led a group of 11 Senators in calling on the Administration to strengthen the Clean Power Plan to secure additional emissions reductions.
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