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FROM THE NEW HAVEN CLIMATE MOVEMENT, SUBMITTING A TRANSPORTATION TRANSFORMATION RESOLUTION TO PROMOTE A SUSTAINABLE AND HEALTHY NEW HAVEN WHILE RESPONDING TO THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY.
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WHEREAS, in 2019, the City of New Haven declared that we face an existential climate emergency that threatens our City, region, state, nation, human civilization, and the natural world, committing to ending community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 2030; and
WHEREAS, NASA scientists have concluded that the complete collapse of the Greenland Ice Sheet alone could raise sea levels 23 feet, creating several billion climate refugees and a "global-scale catastrophe"; and
WHEREAS, global warming has already set in motion disastrous changes to the Earth system, including accelerating ice mass loss from the Greenland and West Antarctic Ice Sheets and the thawing of the borders of the vast Arctic permafrost, which holds twice as much stored carbon as the entire atmosphere; and
WHEREAS: the world is on course for 2? of warming at which point many scientists believe that this temperature will initiate a chain of self-reinforcing changes (feedback loops) that dramatically accelerate warming (ex: hotter temperatures cause more forest fires, releasing more CO2, causing more warming, causing more fires, etc.); and
WHEREAS, climate change poses significant threats to biodiversity, ecosystems, and the natural environment, exacerbating habitat loss, species extinction, and ecosystem degradation; and
WHEREAS, in the State of Connecticut, transportation emissions remain the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (38% (source)- stagnant at 1990 levels), highlighting the need for New Haven to decarbonize by transitioning to electric and human-powered vehicles; and
WHEREAS, the City of New Haven has taken some actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including implementing the Community Electrification Resolution in 2021, expanding bike infrastructure, creating a Climate and Sustain...
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