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3 <br /> RES-2017-048 <br /> RESOLUTION OF THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS IN <br /> SUPPORT OF A LOCAL, STATE,AND NATIONAL GOAL OF 100% CLEAN <br /> ENERGY BY 2050 <br /> AND THE CREATION OF GREEN JOBS <br /> Whereas, climate change has increased the global average surface temperature by 1.00 <br /> degrees Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) since 1880; and <br /> Whereas, climate change is expected to increasingly impact North Carolina's <br /> temperatures,precipitation and sea level with harmful consequences in coming years; and <br /> Whereas, climate change and global average temperature increases are primarily due to <br /> human-caused fossil fuels emissions, including coal, oil and natural gas, according to the United <br /> Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, National Academy of Sciences, American <br /> Meteorological Society, United States Environmental Protection Agency, United States <br /> Department of Defense, and numerous other leading scientific, academic and governmental <br /> authorities both in the United States and internationally; and <br /> Whereas, a final agreement of the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP21), which <br /> included the United States and a total of 195 nations, was reached in Paris, France on December <br /> 12, 2015, that states the aim is to "holding the increase in the global average temperature to well <br /> below 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature <br /> increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels" and entered into force on November 4, <br /> 2016; and <br /> Whereas, scientists have concluded the concentration of carbon dioxide, the leading <br /> greenhouse gas, in the Earth's atmosphere is currently and consistently over 400 parts per <br /> million (ppm) and will likely stay above this level for the indefinite future for the first time in <br /> millions of years; and <br /> Whereas, sixteen of the seventeen hottest years on record have occurred in the twenty- <br /> first century and 2016 is the hottest year on record; and <br /> Whereas, an increase in the global average temperature is having and will continue to <br /> increasingly have major adverse impacts, if not stopped by eliminating the use of fossil fuels, on <br /> both the natural and human-made environments due to longer, more intense heat waves, <br /> prolonged droughts, spread of infectious diseases, rising sea levels, ocean acidification, wildfires, <br /> and more intense and frequent extreme weather events; and <br /> Whereas, these physical effects are expected to lead to water scarcity, food insecurity, <br /> increasing numbers of refugees, increased poverty, and the mass extinction of species; and <br /> Whereas, studies completed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Risky <br /> Business Project, Duke University, and others point to the severe economic costs of climate <br /> change and continuing use of fossil fuel, estimating billions of dollars a year in costs nationally <br /> and trillions globally; and <br />