North Carolina must act now to address global warming!

Global warming refers to the rise in average global temperature that our planet has undergone since the start of the Industrial Revolution.  This warming is largely due to an atmospheric blanket of heat-trapping pollution that grows thicker as we burn fossil fuels to produce electricity and power our cars.  The good news is there are cost-effective options that North Carolina can pursue to reduce global warming pollution.  The state's decision makers must act now to reduce the health, economic, and environmental impacts associated with this challenge and to prepare the business community to take advantage of economic opportunities that are emerging around the need to reduce global warming pollution. 

The NC Global Warming Act (S.1134) will do the following: 

• Establish a commission of state decision-makers, business interests and other stakeholders to examine issues relating to global warming, including projected impacts to the state and economic opportunities associated with reducing global warming pollution.  
• The commission may recommend a state reduction goal for carbon dioxide and other global warming pollutants.
• The commission will report its finding and recommendations in November 2006.

The NC Global Warming Act offers many benefits:

• Reducing global warming impacts.  A state dialogue on global warming and a carbon reduction goal will help reduce the potential health, economic and environmental impacts of global warming on North Carolina. 
• Spurring economic development. Reducing NC’s global warming pollution will promote expansion and recruitment of energy technologies that cause less pollution and generate jobs in the state.  Homegrown, renewable energy replaces the imported coal and gas that currently produces the bulk of NC’s energy, sending about $6 billion each year out of state to purchase these energy sources.
• Showing state leadership.  Meaningful action by the federal government on global warming is long overdue. The best way to encourage the federal government to assume its responsibility is through state leadership.  By establishing a high-level commission to examine this challenge, North Carolina will join numerous states across the country that are already taking steps to address global warming. 
• Encouraging businesses to accept responsibility.  Recognizing the risks associated with global warming and the opportunities that exist in addressing it, many leading North Carolina companies have already taken steps to reduce their global warming pollution.  This legislation will promote that kind of progressive thinking across the broader business community.
• Preparing for the emerging carbon marketplace.  North Carolina business can potentially sell tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars worth of carbon equivalence credits into the carbon marketplace that national climate legislation will eventually generate.  This legislation will help companies be ready to take advantage of these economic opportunities as soon as they arise.
  The potential impacts of global warming are extensive.

Along the coast:

• The United Nations estimates that sea level in the Atlantic Ocean is likely to rise 19 inches by 2100, and could rise by as much as 34 inches in the same timeframe if emissions of global warming pollutants continue to go unchecked.   Either scenario constitutes more than double the rate of sea level rise experienced in the past century  and documents the need for careful coastal development policies.  Coastal wetlands and low-lying lands could be inundated, and the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds merged with open ocean waters.
• Higher sea levels would increase the vulnerability of our coastline to storms, and scientific studies indicate that hurricanes in a warmer world will be stronger and wetter, placing billions of dollars worth of coastal property at risk.  In Dare County alone, more than $5.5 billion worth of property is at risk,  as well as nearly $600 million in annual tourism revenue and 10,000 tourism-related jobs. 

In the Piedmont:

• North Carolina’s agriculture industry, including food crops, fibers and forestry, contributes nearly $60 billion to the state's economy annually and employs more than 20% of the workforce.   The greatest impacts on crop agriculture will likely be decreased soil moisture and reduced water availability for irrigation. 
• Hotter temperatures will disproportionately impact urban areas like Raleigh and Charlotte due to a phenomenon known as the "heat island effect."  Heat islands are created as cities replace natural land cover with heat-absorbing pavement and other infrastructure.  These developed areas amplify extreme hot weather events, potentially contributing to heat stroke and even death, particularly in vulnerable groups like children and the elderly.  As warmer temperatures prevail, so, too, might the spread of tropical diseases like West Nile Virus, malaria, and Dengue Fever.

In the Western Mountains:

• North Carolina’s seven ski areas contribute $120 million each year to the state's economy, but warmer temperatures threaten that revenue.  Regional warming trends also threaten spruce-fir forests and numerous unique species, including the Carolina Northern flying squirrel. 
• As the number two producer of Christmas trees in the country, the state has good reason to be concerned about Frasier firs, which may greatly decline if average temperatures increase by just 5.4 degress Fahrenheit.

Learn More:

Click here to View details of S.1134 on the North Carolina General Assembly Web Site

Click here to view Environmental Defense’s report, Understanding Climate Change for North Carolina