To: The Pennsylvania State Senate
PA Senate: No climate change deniers in charge of Dept. of Environmental Protection
Scientists agree that climate change is real, man-made, and impacting Pennsylvanians. We've all seen it, from extreme weather to summer heat waves.
That's why I find it unacceptable that Acting DEP Secretary Chris Abruzzo says climate change isn't having "adverse impacts to human beings, animals, or plant life."
I urge you to vote against his nomination and push for a DEP secretary who recognizes the threat climate change poses to Pennsylvania and our world.
Why is this important?
Gov. Corbett's newly appointed Department of Environmental Protection Secretary, Chris Abruzzo, just said “I’ve not read any scientific study that would lead me to conclude there are adverse impacts to human beings, animals, or plant life at this small level of climate change."
Does this include Superstorm Sandy and Typhoon Haiyan? The devastating heat waves that have hit the country?
Mr. Abruzzo is dangerously out of touch. Apparently he hasn't read the studies showing that warming-induced sea level rise has doubled the risk of Hurricane Sandy-scale coastal flooding. Or the studies showing that global warming-induced heat waves and droughts are already making life harder for corn farmers across the Midwest. Or the studies that link warming to pine beetle infestations and ecosystem shifts that threaten to drive many species to extinction.
Clearly, Chris Abruzzo isn't the right person to figure out how Pennsylvania is going to tackle maybe the biggest problem facing the Earth—because he isn't even sure it is a problem.
Tell the Pennsylvania Senate to reject Chris Abruzzo's nomination to lead the Department of Environmental Protection.