The warning signs are everywhere. Temperatures are rising, glaciers are melting, and severe storms like the disastrous floods that hit Ohio this March are more common. The world’s scientists have warned that unless we stop emitting millions of tons of global warming pollution each year, we run the risk of irreversibly damaging the climate systems that make life on earth possible.
Unfortunately, Ohio is one of the nation’s biggest contributors to global warming pollution. Nearly 90 percent of Ohio’s electricity is generated by burning coal, generating over 260 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the primary global warming pollutant. The result: Ohio ranks number two in the country for carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity sector. When you take into account the carbon dioxide pollution from the transportation sector, and other industries, Ohio still ranks as the fourth largest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions in the country. This makes Ohio a bigger contributor to global warming than 98 other countries.
The good news is that the solutions to sharply reduce global warming pollution from power plants, cars and SUVs, and factories, the largest sources, are at our fingertips: clean energy sources like wind and solar power, cars that go farther on a gallon of gas, energy efficient appliances, and more.
But ending global warming won’t be easy. Scientists say that in order to avoid the worst impact of global warming we need to reduce global warming pollution by at least 15 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. In order to reach these targets action is needed at all levels of government: local, state, regional and national. Environment Ohio believes we can get there.
Here’s how:
Doing Our Part to Curb Global Warming Pollution: A Midwestern Regional Cap and Trade Agreement
