27th Annual Conference of the New England Governors and the Eastern Canadian Premiers
RESOLUTION – RESOLUTION CONCERNING CLIMATE CHANGE
WHEREAS, the Climate Change Action Plan outlines greenhouse gas reduction goals for the region and presents bold approaches for meeting these goals within the region; and
WHEREAS, the science on climate change demonstrates more than ever that human activity is contributing to the warming of the earth’s atmosphere; and
WHEREAS, the Committee on the Environment and the Northeast International Committee on Energy (NICE) have begun the implementation of the Climate Change Action Plan with a focus on energy use, transportation emissions, greenhouse gas inventory and registry development, adaptation strategies, and state and provincial government programs; and
WHEREAS, the energy efforts have focused on developing context for regional action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector and increasing the amount of energy saved through conservation programs; and
WHEREAS, the transportation initiative calls for a decrease in the transportation sector’s growth in greenhouse gas emissions, including opportunities for promoting increased vehicle fuel efficiency, and bio-fuels use; and
WHEREAS, states and provinces have agreed to develop a standardized greenhouse gas emission inventory for each jurisdiction, beginning in 1990 and reported every three years, and a regional emissions registry for banking and trading emissions credits within the region; and
WHEREAS, the Climate Change Action Plan calls for the reduction of and adaptation to negative social, economic and environmental impacts of climate change, and assessing these impacts to identify adaptive mechanisms that are feasible and cost-effective; and
WHEREAS, state and provincial governments are committed to lead by example in implementing climate change and greenhouse gas reduction programs, and have compiled a survey of public sector climate change activities; and
WHEREAS, the Conference’s Climate Change Steering Committee is considering climate change proposals in a number of areas, including LED traffic lights, partnerships with colleges and universities on emission reduction programs, purchasing programs for high efficiency-low emission office equipment, and the use of clean, energy efficient vehicles in state/provincial fleets.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers accept the Climate Change Report outlining the major accomplishments since the adoption of its Climate Change Action Plan and priorities for the coming year as submitted by its Committee on the Environment and its Northeast International Committee on Energy; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Committee on the Environment and the Northeast International Committee on Energy be directed to evaluate and recommend options for reducing greenhouse emissions from the electricity sector and increase the amount of energy saved through conservation programs in a cost-effective manner; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers continue developing mechanisms to promote cleaner and more efficient vehicles, identify opportunities related to bio-fuels, and explore models of land use and development that could lead to the design of potential incentives and performance-based practices to encourage a reduction in vehicle miles and kilometres traveled; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the regional inventory and registry initiative focus on building jurisdictional and national capacity and standardized methods to produce a regional inventory, and develop administrative, tracking, and reporting framework for a regional registry; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers direct its Committee on the Environment and its Northeast International Committee on Energy, in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to hold a symposium in the spring of 2003 to explore the current state of understanding of climate change impacts on the natural resource base of New England and Eastern Canada, and present a summary of findings and recommended actions at its 2003 Conference; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers identify areas for expanded jurisdictional efforts for the implementation of government climate change programs; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers direct its Committee on the Environment and NICE to encourage and promote climate change proposals centred on LED traffic lights, partnerships with colleges and universities within the region on emission reductions programs, purchasing high efficiency-low emission office equipment, and using clean, energy efficient vehicles in state/provincial fleets.