Milwaukie has become the first city in the United States state of Oregon to declare a climate emergency in an effort to fight the impacts of climate change, the local TV broadcast network informed Tuesday.
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The city, located in the northwestern state of Oregon, passed a resolution that calls for the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2045, with Major Mark Gamba hoping that other cities will follow suit by adopting similar action plans of their own.
Gamba stated that the climate emergency declaration will push the government to respond quickly to the challenges of global warming.
"In political spheres, we tend to use 'emergency' when we need to be able to do something that's extraordinary. Like when it's a state of emergency, different laws can take effects, (and) different rules are implemented," he said, adding that "if more cities do have climate action plans ... then the entities that control those things like the state ... will start to make the changes they need to make."
The newly passed resolution will update the city’s 53-point Climate Action Plan every three years to ensure that the city’s strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are up to date.
“By using the term climate emergency, it not only paints a real picture of what is happening right now and the way we need to respond to it, but also connects to a greater global movement that are pushing governments, local and national … to respond to mobilize against the climate emergency,” Climate Mobilization’s Malik Russell said.
More than 1,300 cities in 26 countries worldwide have declared climate emergencies so far this year, according to the U.S. environmental advocacy group Climate Mobilization. In the U.S. there are 75 cities that have approved to declare this measure.
In a brash contrast, last November, U.S president Donald Trump decided to withdraw the nation from the Paris Agreement due to, according to Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, the “unfair economic burden imposed on US workers, businesses and taxpayers for the United States promises made under the agreement.”