Governor Jack Markell (D-Delaware) travels to the nation’s capital Tuesday to testify at a public hearing on the EPA’s new effort to limit carbon emissions nationwide.
Monday, his former DNREC secretary, Collin O’Mara, was making the case for the proposal, which calls on states to implement plans that will lead to an overall reduction of carbon emissions nationwide by 30 percent by 2030.
O’Mara, now president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, joined leaders of the National Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and other environmental groups on a conference call touting the proposal. He says it’s a plan that makes sense.
“The framework that EPA proposed is really cooperative federalism at its best," O'Mara said. "It’s setting a standard and holding states accountable, but at the same time providing states with the flexibility of solutions that make the most sense with in their boundaries. And we’ve seen incredible innovation over the past few years from states.”
O’Mara says the EPA is setting the standard but allowing states the freedom to find their own ways to make it work. He says efforts already in place like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative show it can be done.
“For one of the first times," he added, "we already have innovative solutions that we know have worked at the stet level for many, many years that can be replicated or improved upon across the country to achieve significant reductions in ways that will strengthen habitat for our natural resources and wildlife, improve air and water quality and, at the same time create stronger more vibrant economy.”
O’Mara says that his position with the National Wildlife Federation offers him a new perspective on the need for urgency to address the issue. He says anglers and hunters already see the impact of climate change in new stresses on native species and the rise of invasive species.
O’Mara points to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative that Delaware is part of with nearby states as an example of an effort currently working at the state and regional level that could be replicated elsewhere.
The EPA is holding two day public hearings on its proposal this week in Washington DC, Denver, Atlanta and Pittsburgh.
Members of Delaware’s chapter of the Sierra Club are also on the list of those scheduled to testify in Washington this week.
