Rebuilding New Orleans
GLOBAL GREEN HELPS N.O USE LESS ENERGY
2THEADVOCATE.COM. JULY 25, 2008. By Amy Wold
Urging the use of more energy-efficient homes and discussing how to cut climate change pollution are parts of a new national initiative announced Thursday to reduce global warming-related pollution.
“New Orleans is a front line for sea level rise in this country,” said Matt Peterson, president of Global Green USA.
Reducing the amount of global warming pollution could help reduce the projected sea level rise if nothing is done, Peterson said.
Even with building levees higher, climate change is expected to increase sea levels, putting coastal cities like New Orleans at even greater risk in the future, Peterson said.
“We’re talking 150 million people who live along the coast of the United States,” Peterson said during a news conference at the New Orleans Port Authority. Many of the at-risk communities will be low-income communities, he said.
Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., co-chair of the initiative, agreed.
“Our coastal communities, where half of our population lives, are most vulnerable to climate change,” he said.