100 day anniversary of Superstorm Sandy marked with day of action on climate change

PennEnvironment

As communities throughout the East Coast are still struggling to rebuild 100 days after Superstorm Sandy slammed the Mid-Atlantic, PennEnvironment urged state and federal officials to redouble their efforts to tackle climate change. Scientists have warned that climate change is helping to fuel the recent increase in extreme weather, and will make events like Superstorm Sandy, and last summer’s record drought, more severe and more frequent unless more is done to limit the carbon pollution fueling climate change.

“100 days after Superstorm Sandy, we need to address the recent spike in extreme weather by redoubling our efforts to tackle climate change,” said Mary Kate Ranii, Western Pennsylvania Field Associate with PennEnvironment. “Our hearts go out to the victims of Sandy and other recent extreme weather events. Let’s not wait for the next destructive storm to take action on climate change and put solutions to work.”

A recent Associated Press article summed up the damage that Superstorm Sandy inflicted:

  • At least 146 lives lost in the United States
  • At least 3,500 New York and New Jersey families still displaced from their homes today, some of whom are living in tent shelters this winter
  • More than 650,000 housing units damaged or destroyed in New York and New Jersey

Strong scientific evidence suggests that certain types of extreme weather events, including hurricanes, heat waves and droughts, will likely become more frequent and more severe as a result of climate change. Already, a 2012 PennEnvironment report found that extreme rainstorms are happening 52 percent more frequently in Pennsylvania since 1948.

PennEnvironment applauded President Obama’s inaugural address pledge that, “We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.” The group urged the president to take action by rejecting the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, and finalizing the industrial carbon pollution standards on power plants, the largest single source of the pollution fueling climate change. Ranii also called on the president and state leaders to continue and expand support for clean energy solutions like wind and solar power and energy efficiency.   

“Over the next four years, we are counting on President Obama to take action on climate change with the urgency it requires,” concluded Ranii.