City of Hayward & CPR Initiative to Host Public-Input Event, On The Question: What More Should The US Do On Climate?

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CITY OF HAYWARD AND CPR INITIATIVE TO HOST PUBLIC-INPUT EVENT, ON THE QUESTION:

What more should the US do on climate?

Wednesday, August 7, 2024, 6pm to 8:30pm PDT: Hayward City Hall, Council Chambers
2nd Floor, 777 B St., Hayward, CA 94541 & Remote by Zoom Webinar

Community members are invited to attend a public hearing and public input session, hosted by the City of Hayward and the Climate Protection and Restoration Initiative.

Renowned climate scientists, law and policy experts, academics and local community advocates are scheduled to testify.  

Participants may attend in-person at Hayward City Hall or remotely over Zoom Webinar. Registration is free, is required to speak at the event, and will be open until Thursday, August 6, 2024. Time for public comment will be limited, and speakers will be scheduled in the order of their registration. On site registration will also be available. Everyone, even if they have not registered for the event, may submit written testimony online at cprclimate.org. 

Background: On June 16, 2022, the Climate Protection & Restoration Initiative (CPR Initiative), along with five climate experts, petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to phase out fossil fuel greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution and compel major climate polluters to clean up their mess. Over a thousand individuals and more than a hundred organizations endorsed the effort.

Despite the Petition’s strong legal foundation and its summary of the overwhelming evidence, the EPA declined to act, asserting it was already doing enough. But further delay in real climate action is tenable, no longer – particularly for coastal communities, like Hayward, California.

Accordingly, CPR Initiative is conducting a series of public hearings on the fundamental question: What More Should the United States Do on Climate?

At our upcoming event, we welcome the considered thoughts of experts, the general public, and local climate organizations on current and likely impacts to California and what additional federal action is required to confront the climate crisis. More specifically, we seek testimony that moves the conversation forward as it relates to the following:

• Community youth & climate solutions
• Imperiled communities
• Climate “tipping points”

Slated to testify (along with other climate experts, thought leaders and members of the community):

Timothy Lenton, co-author of The Global Tipping Points Report 2023, Director of the Global Systems Institute and Chair in Climate Change and Earth System Science at the University of Exeter

Rob Jackson, Senior Fellow of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the Stanford Precourt Institute for Energy

Karina Garbesi, Professor Emerita and Director of Environmental Studies, California State University East Bay

Donn J. Viviani, President of the CPR Initiative Board of Directors and 35-year veteran EPA policy director.

Lauren Weston, Executive Director of Acterra, a San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit environmental organization bringing people together to create solutions for a healthy planet.

Sean McFarland, Co-Founder and Vice President of Teach Earth Action (TEA) and English Department Faculty, Chabot College. 

Dan Galpern, General Counsel and Executive Director, CPR Initiative. Dan will discuss CPR Initiative’s proposal for an orderly phase out of oil, gas and coal within reach of US Law.

Quotes:

According to Donn Viviani, of CPR Initiative: 

“The science is clear: Confronting the climate emergency is key. We need to both phase out continuing GHG pollution and remove a substantial share of the overburden that is now overheating the entire planet and poisoning the ocean.”

Detail:

CPR Initiative will convey a record of the hearing to the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We welcome all perspectives and answers to the question, “What more can the US do on climate?” Visit the official event page for more detail on the hearing.