Drafter
Clerk 01/03/2002
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A MOTION approving participation in the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign; supporting the executive's development of an action plan to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and targeted air pollutants from King County operations.
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WHEREAS, the world's leading climate scientists, serving on the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), project that the world's average surface temperature will increase by 2.6 to 10.4 degree Fahrenheit over the period 1990 to 2100, and
WHEREAS, temperature changes of that magnitude would have enormous regional consequences, as evidenced by the fact that Seattle was under three thousand feet of ice when average temperatures were six to eight degrees Fahrenheit colder than today, and
WHEREAS, climate scientists at the University of Washington predict that average temperatures in the Northwest will increase approximately one degree Fahrenheit per decade in the Twenty-First Century; and
WHEREAS, this would result in reduced snowpack and summer water supplies, increased flooding and glacial outbursts, higher sea levels,, the spread of infectious diseases, increased smog and breathing-related illnesses, significantly changed conditions for agriculture and faster changes in our ecosystems than many animals and plants can adapt to, and
WHEREAS, the IPCC finds that the large projected increases in global temperatures are predominantly due to emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels, and
WHEREAS, the IPCC finds that a significant reduction in current greenhouse gas emissions is necessary to stabilize the effects of such gases on the climate, because they remain in the atmosphere for centuries, and
WHEREAS, local governments across the world have proven that actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can also benefit local economies and improve the quality of life, which can be accomplished through increased energy ef...

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