COLUMBUS, Ohio - Some Ohoans were on hand this month in Paris as global leaders mapped out a blueprint for the future to reduce the damaging impacts of climate change.

Cathy Becker of Grove City was a member of the Sierra Club delegation at the U.N. Climate Change Conference. After her time spent among other activists, students, business leaders, lawmakers, indigenous groups and faith organizations, she said she now sees that the world is ready for climate action.

"It was just really refreshing," she said. "The debate wasn't whether it's happening or whether we can do something about it - it's what to do about it, and how to do it, and what our ultimate goals are."

She said she believes the accord is truly historic because it involves 195 countries agreeing to make their own steps to lower emissions, and then revisit their contributions every five years. In the past, attempts at global climate accords held just 10 major nations responsible.

The accord seeks to limit rising temperatures to within 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Becker said leaders also listened to a call from some small island countries threatened by rising sea levels to include a possible limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius, which she called "a really high bar.

"We will have to convert lots of fossil fuels very quickly to meet 1.5, but that is the de facto target at this point," she said., "That was a surprise there was just so much momentum going into this that countries, basically a lot of them, agreed to this."

Another notable moment, Becker said, was a pledge by 1,000 mayors to go 100 percent renewable by 2050.

"The UN said about 75 percent of carbon emissions are on the local level, so cities can make a huge, huge difference," she said. "So I would encourage any local leaders in Ohio to take a look at that and take a look at their cities and see what they can do."

Becker said climate discussions did not just focus on the transition away from the use of fossil fuels, but also the need to address justice and democracy in climate action by helping those in the developing world access clean energy.


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MANCHESTER, N.H. - Three New Hampshire professors are among those who've signed a letter urging the United Nations General Assembly to adopt what's known as the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

More than 2,000 scientists and academics say the treaty, which would be a binding agreement, could help move forward on the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Professor Pam Jordan, who teaches politics and global affairs at Southern New Hampshire University, said that with the U.N. General Assembly now meeting, global leaders should take strong action.

"This treaty would seek to end the expansion of coal, oil and gas industries, phase out fossil fuels in an incremental way that can be measured, and then support a transition to renewable energy sources that would address the needs of people worldwide," she said.

Recent polling shows more than 60% of likely New Hampshire voters support clean-energy investments at the national level, such as those in the budget being negotiated in Congress. The letter noted that this global treaty would work to constrain the fossil-fuel supply.

Jordan added that with the recent U.N. report calling climate change a "Code Red for humanity," limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is crucial to stop the most catastrophic effeccts - which she notes would disproportionately fall on developing countries. She said the Paris Climate Accords set important goals, and it's time to take the next step.

"It's not just a voluntary kind of report the countries are putting out," she said, "but they're working with oil and gas companies to eliminate oil and gas and coal, and then start developing renewables in a more systematic way."

She said it's not clear whether the U.N. will take up the treaty, and if it does, there will be a process of officially adopting it and having nations ratify and sign it.

ALBANY, N.Y. - Clean-energy groups are touting new zero-emissions vehicle initiatives in New York, part of the state's ongoing effort to reduce the greenhouse gases that scientists say are primarily responsible for global warming.

The new act establishes that new passenger cars and light trucks sold in New York must be zero-emission by 2035. Medium and heavy-duty vehicles must follow suit by 2045.

While the goal is ambitious, Deb Peck Kelleher, director of policy analysis and operations for Alliance for Clean Energy New York, said it can be reached with added sale locations, among other initiatives.

"A lot of vehicles in those next 14 years will age out and need to be replaced," she said. "If we put in a number of pieces behind the goal, to make sure that consumers can go to the dealership and can purchase the vehicle that they want locally, I think that we'll get there a lot quicker."

A bill in the New York Legislature also would expand the number of retail locations that can sell all-electric vehicles. Other proposals would create incentives for school districts to purchase electric buses, and allow state sales-tax exemptions on the first 35,000 of a hybrid electric-vehicle purchase.

Gov. Kathy Hochul also has directed the state Department of Environmental Conservation to release a proposed regulation similar to California's law to reduce diesel pollution.

Peck Kelleher said this would most affect people who live in high-traffic areas.

"The zero-emission requirements in the Advanced Clean Truck Rule are crucial to public health and equity, and improving air quality in these neighborhoods and ensuring access to clean transportation," she said.

Studies show Black, Latino, and Asian American communities are disproportionately exposed to air pollution as a result of living near highways. And with more severe weather events affecting New York, Peck Kelleher added that there's been greater recognition that transitioning vehicle production from gas-powered to electric must happen.

"Change is hard," she said, "and I think people are just economically looking at it, to figure out where they will end up in the new electrified universe."

Under the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, statewide greenhouse-gas emissions must be reduced to 40% of their 1990 levels by 2030.

HARTFORD, Conn. - A new report reveals Connecticut is not on track to meet either of its 2030 or 2050 greenhouse gas emissions goals, and advocates say cutting transportation-related pollution is the way forward.

The Connecticut Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, which reviewed air quality trends from 1990 to 2018, shows that the transportation sector is the state's largest source of pollution, mostly from fossil fuel combustion in vehicles.

Samantha Dynowski, state director of Sierra Club Connecticut, said it's time for the state to act swiftly to reduce greenhouse gases.

"We need the administration to really change that policy, to plan to reduce vehicle miles traveled" said Dynowski. "And that can include things like really prioritizing transit, rail and bus because when you build for more vehicle emissions, you get more vehicle emissions."

Connecticut's Global Warming Solutions Act created a target to reduce emissions by 45% below 2001 levels by 2030. The 2018 Governor's Council on Climate Change report unveiled that a 29% reduction in transportation emissions from 2014 is needed to meet the 2030 target.

Lori Brown, executive director of the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters, said one important step the state could take would be joining the Transportation Climate Initiative, or TCI. It's a multi-state agreement that uses a cap-and-invest system to reduce pollution from gasoline and diesel fuel.

Proceeds from the initiative would be used to invest in clean infrastructure. Brown said TCI is crucial for a healthy future in Connecticut.

"We know it's going to generate around $100 million dollars a year for things like converting dirty diesel school buses into electric school buses," said Brown. "That cuts across urban, suburban, rural. It can do all kinds of things that local municipalities want to do like improving intersections and sidewalks and rail and transit options."

TCI requires the Connecticut General Assembly's approval to start the program. Brown said advocates are calling on the state legislature to pass TCI during a Special Session this fall.

TCI would also ensure that half of the program's revenue would go to communities overburdened by air pollution.