ICYMI: Senator Hassan Joins Former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy in Portsmouth, Calls on Trump to Endorse Federal Climate Change Report
PORTSMOUTH – Yesterday, Senator Maggie Hassan joined former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Portsmouth Mayor Jack Blalock for an event hosted by the League of Conservation Voters at the Portsmouth Brewery to highlight the importance of working together to combat climate change and protect New Hampshire’s natural resources. Senator Hassan also called on President Trump to endorse his Administration’s report showing the real impact that climate change is already having in New Hampshire and across America.
See below for highlights of the coverage:
Portsmouth Herald: Hassan: Trump needs to listen to climate scientists
By Jeff McMenemy
U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan called out President Donald Trump for actions he has taken, which she said are “exacerbating the challenges that we all face” dealing with climate change.
“It’s clear we need to be taking stronger actions not rolling back protections that are already in place,” Hassan said late Tuesday morning during an appearance at the Portsmouth Brewery with former EPA head Gina McCarthy.
Hassan chided the president for his views on climate change, saying Trump has “made it clear that he does not believe the very clear scientific evidence surrounding climate change.”
She added Trump has “taken actions that would dramatically hinder our efforts to fight climate change” and pointed to his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. That decision, Hassan said, “threatens our long-term economic growth, health of our citizens and the well-being of our planet.”
… Hassan, in an interview after Tuesday’s event, also addressed a local environmental issue, namely the high levels of PFCs found in surface water near the Coakley landfill in Greenland.
… Hassan said she was “very concerned about PFC contamination generally, obviously in this area of the state and at the Coakley landfill.”
“What we need to do is keep pushing the EPA first of all to come up with some standards, but also to work with the Coakley Landfill Group to remediate the situation and help provide clean water,” she said. “I’m looking at various ways to do that.”
Hassan also responded to questions about a New York Times article that suggested Trump’s administration had not released a scientific report stating the average temperature in the United States has risen dramatically since 1980.
“It’s really important that this administration begin to acknowledge that science is important and listen to scientists,” Hassan said.
NHPR: Hassan: Trump Should Endorse Findings of Leaked Climate Report
By Jason Moon
Democratic U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan says the Trump administration should endorse the findings of a federal report on climate change that was recently leaked to the New York Times.
… “It would be really important for this president to acknowledge that science matters," said Hassan, "and then to actually read this report and perhaps realize that we all need to be working together to protect our planet and our economy.”
Senator Hassan was joined at the event by former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Portsmouth Mayor Jack Blalock. All three emphasized the importance of local efforts to address climate change.
AP: In N.H., former EPA head calls on Trump to heed science, climate report
By Michael Casey
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Barack Obama is calling for President Donald Trump to listen to the experts after a federal climate report concluded the United States is already feeling the effects of climate change.
“It is really showing us that there have been extreme increases in weather in a very short period of time,” Gina McCarthy told the Associated Press at an event Tuesday in Portsmouth.
Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, who also took part in the event put on by the League of Conservation Voters, agreed that it was “absolutely critical that we follow independent, peer-reviewed science in crafting environmental policy.”
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