Today, Clean Water Action and the Climate Action Campaign (CAC) hosted a virtual press conference with local community advocates to highlight recent extreme weather along the Jersey Shore and urge Rep. Andy Kim (NJ-03) to fight for major investments to combat climate change through the Build Back Better Budget.
The speakers pointed to an alarming new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as well as recent extreme weather along the Jersey Shore. The event included Janet Tauro, New Jersey Board Chair of Clean Water Action; New Jersey Planning Officials General Counsel Michele Donato; Save Barnegat Bay Executive Director Britta Forsberg; and Georgian Court University Professor Louise Wootton.
A recording of the event is available HERE.
“Now is the time to make long-overdue investments to reduce climate-altering pollution, protect vulnerable communities, and secure the Jersey Shore’s future,” said Janet Tauro, New Jersey Board Chair of Clean Water Action. “Rep. Andy Kim understands what’s at stake. Now’s the time for him to take action. The lives and livelihoods of New Jerseyans depend on the decisions Congress will make in the coming weeks.”
“It’s time for Rep. Andy Kim and the rest of New Jersey’s congressional delegation to pick up this banner and lead this fight for big, bold climate investments,” said New Jersey Planning Officials General Counsel Michele Donato, who serves as a New Jersey Board Member of Clean Water Action. “We’re already feeling the impacts of climate change up and down the Jersey Shore, and it’s only going to get worse. We can’t afford to wait.”
“I’ve seen firsthand the escalating impacts of extreme weather on the Jersey Shore,” said Save Barnegat Bay Executive Director Britta Forsberg. “It’s not some far-off idea. It’s happening now, and we’re already paying the price. Cities and counties can’t wage this fight alone — we need federal support to protect our communities, combat climate-altering pollution, and finally stop this problem at the source.”
“The ecological fallout of climate change is vast, and it’s only getting worse,” said Dr. Louise Wootton, a professor of biology at Georgian Court University. “We can’t afford to wait any longer — this is a crisis that requires urgent, bold action. From the loss of precious local species to surging mosquito and tick populations, the Jersey Shore is going to pay the price if we continue to do nothing.”
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Since the organization’s founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking, and people power to the table. www.cleanwater.org