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For Immediate Release, March 7, 2012

Contact: Rose Braz, (510) 435-6809

Cincinnati Joins Growing List of Cities Supporting Use of Clean Air Act to Slow Global Warming

CINCINNATI— Cincinnati, Ohio, today joined more than a dozen other U.S. cities in supporting the Environmental Protection Agency and President Barack Obama using the Clean Air Act to clean our air, reduce greenhouse gas pollution and slow global warming. The Cincinnati City Council, in passing a resolution today, is the latest city to join the Center for Biological Diversity’s national Clean Air Cities campaign.
“We are making great strides toward a ‘greener’ city with our Green Cincinnati Plan. To continue to work tirelessly for improved air quality, we must also send a strong message of full support for the Clean Air Act to the EPA,” said Cincinnati Council Member Laurie Quinlivan, who spearheaded the resolution.

“Cities like Cincinnati are on the front lines in the fight to clean our air and slow climate change. These communities need a strong partner in the EPA and the Clean Air Act, and these resolutions make it clear that cities want action,” said Rose Braz, the Center’s climate campaign director. “Cities know the Clean Air Act is our most important tool not only for slowing global warming, but also for protecting our communities from the devastating public-health impacts of other pollution.”

According to a report commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, each year 1,221 Ohio deaths are attributable to pollution from coal plants. A 2011 report from Environment Ohio ranked Cincinnati the 16th smoggiest city in the United States, and the Union of Concerned Scientists predicts that higher temperatures from global warming will exacerbate ozone pollution, one of the main ingredients of smog.

The Center’s Clean Air Cities campaign is working with volunteers around the country to encourage cities to pass resolutions supporting the Clean Air Act and using the Act to reduce carbon in our atmosphere to no more than 350 parts per million, the level scientists say is needed to avoid catastrophic climate change. Similar resolutions have been approved in Seattle, Wash.; Albany, N.Y.; Tucson, Ariz.; Boone, N.C.; Pittsburgh, Penn.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Cambridge, Mass.; Madison and Milwaukee, Wis., and Arcata, Richmond, Berkeley, Oxnard and Santa Monica, Calif. Several other cities around the country will also be considering resolutions over the next few months.

Learn more about the Clean Air Cities campaign and get the facts about the Clean Air Act.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 320,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.


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