New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that climate change is his top consideration this election season. In a piece headlined, “A Vote for a President Who Will Lead on Climate Change,” the Mayor explains:
“Our climate is changing. And while the increase in extreme weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be the result of it, the risk that it might be – given this week’s devastation – should compel all elected leaders to take immediate action.
But we can’t do it alone. We need leadership from the White House – and over the past four years, President Barack Obama has taken major steps to reduce our carbon consumption, including setting higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks. His administration also has adopted tighter controls on mercury emissions, which will help to close the dirtiest coal power plants (an effort I have supported through my philanthropy), which are estimated to kill 13,000 Americans a year.”
As Bloomberg helps his city recover from Superstorm Sandy — one of nearly two dozenextreme weather events costing more than $1 billion since last year — he says that such extreme events should concern us all:
“The devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to New York City and much of the Northeast – in lost lives, lost homes and lost business – brought the stakes of Tuesday’s presidential election into sharp relief.
The floods and fires that swept through our city left a path of destruction that will require years of recovery and rebuilding work. And in the short term, our subway system remains partially shut down, and many city residents and businesses still have no power. In just 14 months, two hurricanes have forced us to evacuate neighborhoods – something our city government had never done before. If this is a trend, it is simply not sustainable.
Our climate is changing….”
It is a trend, a dangerous one.
Bloomberg says climate change has influenced his decision to vote for Barack Obama:
“When I step into the voting booth, I think about the world I want to leave my two daughters, and the values that are required to guide us there. The two parties’ nominees for president offer different visions of where they want to lead America….
One sees climate change as an urgent problem that threatens our planet; one does not. I want our president to place scientific evidence and risk management above electoral politics.”
After a period of silence among political leaders and journalists this campaign season on climate change, the issue has dominated headlines in the days after Hurricane Sandy.
Originally posted on www.thinkprogress.org. Re-published with permission.
