Is Delaware making sound plans for its future? The League of Women Voters of Delaware thinks our state goals for mitigating climate change need strengthening.
The league has spent the last three years looking at ways to combat sea level rise, coastal storm surges, and flooding; all are being driven by increasing global rates of combustion of fossil fuels.
Delaware has a long coastline, the lowest average elevation of any state in the country, and a dependence on tourism and agriculture, so we are especially vulnerable to these growing climate changes.
The Delaware League led the effort at national League Convention 2014 to pass a resolution promoting a price on carbon emissions. There is some uncertainty about how much more CO2 we can put into the atmosphere before really serious damage is done. It is clear that most of the known fossil fuel deposits will need to be left in the ground. We need to be reducing global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissons now. Human activities have already increased the global average surface temperature. A degree or two can raise global sea levels by 20 meters (65 feet) - the state's average elevation.
The Delaware League has just completed a study of what Delaware has done to reduce its CO2 emissions while growing a clean and productive economy.
There are four major initiatives that Delaware has used to reduce its GHG emissions:
• Participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative - with eight other Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states to reduce CO2 emissions from power plants in RGGI states, through a cap-and-trade system where the total allowable tons of CO2 from power plants are capped and the cap is decreased each year. Power plants buy emission allowances at auction to cover their CO2 released.
• Participation in the Transportation and Climate Initiative - with 11 other Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states to reduce CO2 emissions from the transportation sector.
• Adoption of a Climate Action Plan to reduce GHG emissions from all sources in the state by 30 percent by 2030, relative to 2008.
• Adoption of a Renewable Portfolio Standard that currently requires that nearly 25 percent of the electricity sold in Delaware by Delmarva Power come from renewable energy sources (like wind and solar) by 2025, with 3.5 of the 25 percent from solar.
The following recommendations came out of the league study and were recently adopted by the Delaware League:
• When the current RGGI cap reduction rate of 2.5 percent per year for the period of 2015-20 ends, increase the rate of cap reduction to 5 percent per year for the period 2021-30.
• Work to encourage the TCI to put an increasing price on carbon emissions from transportation - over the entire TCI region.
• Strengthen Delaware's Climate Action Plan to reduce emissions of all GHGs by 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050, relative to emissions in 2008.
• Strengthen Delaware's RPS, and set stretch goals for renewable energy sources for electricity for 2030 and 2050 that are above 25 percent.
Climate change is a serious issue for Delaware. The League of Women Voters of Delaware hopes that other groups and individuals will join with us in pursuing a path forward that makes our state a leader among states in reducing GHG emissions and in developing a green energy economy.
Jill Fuchs
president, League of Women
Voters of Delaware
-
A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.
To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to newsroom@capegazette.com. Letters must be signed and include a telephone number and address for verification. Please keep letters to 500 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days. Letters restating information and opinions already offered by the same author will not be used. Letters must focus on issues of general, local concern, not personalities or specific businesses.
