Group Offers Roadmap to Reduce Pollution

A regional environmental group Monday released a comprehensive "climate change roadmap" to reduce pollution linked to global warming by 75 percent in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada.
Environment Northeast said the proposals included in the 275-page plan draw from many of the best practices already found within the region, including Quebec's commitment to wind generation and Maine's requirement that new state buildings exceed energy codes by 20 percent.
The group's executive director, Daniel Sosland of Rockport, said the 10 priorities spelled out in the roadmap would put the region on the path toward 75 percent lower emissions by 2050, a goal that would stave off the worst impact of global warming. "The public is increasingly concerned that global warming pollutants are changing our climate and this roadmap offers remedies that can be implemented today to put us on the lower polluting path we need to be on," Sosland said. The 10 priorities, broken down into energy, transportation and carbon storage, would reduce greenhouse gas pollutants by least 35 million to 40 million metric tons by 2020, Environment Northeast estimated. The group said it plans to present its plan to industry and government officials in hopes of triggering discussion about how to make policy changes that would meet greenhouse gas targets while strengthening the economy.