RESOLUTION NO. RS2014-1300

A resolution supporting efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and supporting President Obama’s Clean Power Plan to reduce carbon pollution from power plants.

WHEREAS, the City of Nashville has adopted numerous programs and initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainability, including the Mayor’s Workplace Challenge, the Mayor’s Neighborhood Challenge, the Nashvitality Mobile App, Greening Metro Buildings, Nashville Energy Works, the Electric Vehicle Project, the Complete Streets Policy, Bike-Share Programs, Music City Bikeway, Mass Transit improvements, subsidization of the Nashville Farmers’ Market, the Metropolitan Landscape Coordination Program, and NashvilleNext, among others; and

WHEREAS, on June 2, 2014, the Obama Administration released the Clean Power Plan, which aims to cut carbon pollution from existing power plants nationwide - the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the country; and

WHEREAS, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that the proposed Clean Power Plan will modernize our power system, protect public health, create jobs, and move the country toward a cleaner environment, while supplying it with reliable and affordable power; and

WHEREAS, power plants account for roughly one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, yet there are currently no national limits on carbon pollution from power plants; and

WHEREAS, by 2030, the Clean Power Plan proposes to cut carbon pollution from power plants by 30 percent nationwide below 2005 levels; and

WHEREAS, carbon pollution exacerbates climate change, contributes to more frequent and more violent extreme weather events that costs communities, the federal government, and our economy billions of dollars every year, and threatens public health; and

WHEREAS, our most vulnerable community members, including children, the elderly, and low-income and minority families, contribute least to climate change and air pollution but often suffer the most due to pre-existing vulnerabilities, including health vulnerabilities, poor housing stock, economic instability, and proximity to power plants; and

WHEREAS, the Clean Power Plan also proposes to cut particle pollution, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide by more than 25 percent as a co-benefit; and

WHEREAS, the Clean Power Plan will be implemented through a state-federal partnership under which states have the flexibility to develop customized plans that will keep energy affordable and reliable while meeting their carbon pollution reduction goals by making fossil fuel power plants more efficient, shifting to lower-polluting power sources, increasing renewable energy, and using electricity more efficiently; and

WHEREAS, the Clean Power Plan is consistent with Metro-Nashville’s renewable energy and energy efficiency achievements and objectives; and

WHEREAS, the Metropolitan County Council desires to show its support for efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainability, and to support President Obama’s Clean Power Plan.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY:

Section 1. That the Metropolitan County Council hereby goes on record as supporting efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainability in Metro-Nashville and supporting President Obama’s Clean Power Plan to cut carbon pollution from existing power plants nationwide.

Section 2. The Metropolitan Clerk is directed to send a copy of this Resolution to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy at the Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Mail Code: 1101A, Washington, DC 20460, McCarthy.Gina@epa.gov.

Section 3. That this Resolution shall take effect from and after its adoption, the welfare of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County requiring it.

Sponsored by: Peter Westerholm, Fabian Bedne

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Referred to:	Rules & Confirmations Committee
Introduced:	November 18, 2014
Deferred:	November 18, 2014
Adopted:	December 2, 2014 - Roll Call Vote
Approved:	December 5, 2014
By: