An Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator was in the Hudson Valley recently to talk about climate change. Judith Enck spoke with WAMC’s Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Allison Dunne about President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, and what it means for the region.
President Obama released his Climate Action Plan in June, and EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck spoke about the plan with community and nonprofit leaders as well as local government officials during a roundtable at Marist College in Poughkeepsie.
Enck, whose Region 2 includes New York and New Jersey, co-hosted the roundtable with Scenic Hudson’s director of public policy.
The discussion came shortly before word of a United Nations climate change report, in which scientists warn of a 3-foot sea level rise by the year 2100. The panel of scientists also says it is at least 95 percent likely that humans are the cause of global warming.
President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, chaired by the Housing and Urban Development secretary, released August 19 a rebuilding strategy, which includes ensuring the hard-hit areas are rebuilt with more resiliency and better able to withstand future storms and other impacts of climate change.
As part of the Climate Action Plan to reduce carbon pollution, she sees the Hudson Valley as ready to plug into more renewable energy sources.
She responds to what she sees as EPA’s priorities for the Hudson Valley.
The Climate Action Plan is available on the White House web page.
