Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy
City Council July 21, 2021
A RESOLUTION CALLING UPON PRESIDENT BIDEN AND THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO PASS AN INFRASTRUCTURE BILL TO HELP COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE
WHEREAS, The City is in a declared state of emergency due to climate change, which continues to represent an existential threat to human existence; and
WHEREAS, Carbon sinks from the Earth's natural environments and ecosystems are overburdened and cannot mitigate climate change alone; and
WHEREAS, Some ofthe Earth's largest carbon sinks have been deeply affected, including the ocean, which is now +/-0.62 to +/- 0.14 degrees warmer on average and is developing new dead zones, and the Amazon Rain Forest has been exploited to the point where it is emitting carbon dioxide rather than sequestering it; and
WHEREAS, While Earth's natural environments are resilient and capable of healing if human activity becomes carbon negative, we are past the tipping point and must enact human-made innovations to forge resilient systems and mitigate the effects of climate change; and
WHEREAS, The City, once considered a haven from the effects of climate change due to its access to freshwater and moderate climate, now regularly faces extreme weather events caused by climate change; such events cause Lake Michigan's water levels to rise and fall, the lakefront to erode, and can overburden Chicago's existing infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, Extreme weather events also cause Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO), which occur when stormwater, wastewater, and runoff from snowmeltor rain enter the City's stormwater and wastewater systems at a rate that exceeds the system's capacity and processing abilities; CSOs are a danger to the City's drinking water supply, cause basement flooding, and endanger City residents; and
WHEREAS, The increased frequency of extreme weather events and, in turn, CSOs, requires attention including potentially overhauling the current system and incorporating green i...
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