RES-2017-048 Resolution in Support of Local, State, and National Goal of 100% Clean Energy by 2050 and the Creation of Green Jobs

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