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For Immediate Release, June 4, 2007

Contacts: Sarah Mills, Proposition Earth, (909) 867-6241
Jonathan Evans, Center for Biological Diversity, (213) 598-1466

Groups Push County to Confront Global Warming
Citizen Petition Drive Urges Supervisors to Plan for Climate Change

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.— Conservation groups in California’s Inland Empire will appear at the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors’ meeting tomorrow, June 5, to appeal to the board to adopt a Climate Change Action Plan. The groups’ appearance at the board meeting will kick off a citizens’ petition drive aimed at urging the board to adopt an action plan.

While state and local governments have taken steps to address the problem of climate change, San Bernardino County has chosen to ignore it. The Center for Biological Diversity and Proposition Earth are urging the county to adopt a resolution committing it to a Climate Change Action Plan consisting of five steps that require it to:

• Conduct a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and forecast to determine the source and quantity of greenhouse gas emissions in the jurisdiction;

• Establish a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target;

• Develop an action plan with both existing and future actions that, when implemented, will meet the state law AB32 greenhouse gas reduction target;

• Implement the action plan with specific mitigation measures; and

• Monitor and report progress.

Hundreds of local governments across the United States have committed to address the problem of global warming. Mayors in San Bernardino, Yucaipa, Chino, Riverside, and Hemet have all signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and pledged to fight climate change.

Global warming is already affecting San Bernardino, increasing the threat of large wildfires and drought. Decreased snowpack and higher temperatures have put pressure on water supplies, hurt the local ski economy, and created a year-round fire season in southern California. “ San Bernardino has so much to lose with global warming,” said Jonathan Evans of the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s time the board stepped up to the plate and acted.”

According to Sarah Mills, co-founder of Proposition Earth, “ San Bernardino County has a responsibility to commit to a Climate Change Action Plan. By doing this San Bernardino County will be establishing a common direction and goal: encouraging community leaders, business owner, developers, and residents to unite and achieve great strides against the battle we face with global warming.”

The Center for Biological Diversity is a nonprofit conservation organization with more than 35,000 members dedicated to the protection of imperiled species and habitat. www.biologicaldiversity.org.

Proposition Earth is dedicated to assisting in worldwide efforts to reverse the devastating effects of global warming by educating business and homeowners about the changes they can make to lower their greenhouse gas emissions. www.propositionearth.org


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