WBRE/WYOU: State officials call on climate change advocates at Wilkes-Barre event
Updated: Apr 28, 2022
By Joe Dominick
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright and U.S. Senator Bob Casey joined Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown and climate advocates Monday for a press conference to call for immediate action to address increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather events affecting Pennsylvania’s communities.
The event was hosted by Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania and part of a grassroots campaign during the August 2021 congressional recess in 12 states to demand ambitious investments in clean energy, environmental justice and climate solutions organized by the Climate Action Campaign. Climate change is making extreme weather events like flooding and heat waves in Pennsylvania more dangerous.
Earlier this summer, regions of Pennsylvania experienced a 100-year flood, and new flood maps have shifted parts of Luzerne County into Special Flood Hazard Areas.
Pennsylvanians are calling on Congress to support the Build Back Better Budget and make big, bold investments to tackle the threats posed by the climate crisis now and in the future.
“Just look at the flooding picture. If you haven’t noticed that it’s getting worse, you haven’t been paying attention. It is getting worse and it’s because of climate change so we have to attack it at multiple levels,” Cartwright said.
