Press release:
PENSACOLA, FL March 19, 2007 – Sustainable West Florida and Gulf Coast Environmental Defense, in coordination with other local organizations, today announced a campaign to raise public awareness about global warming and address climate change issues in the Gulf Coast area.
“Global Warming, Local Action†is part of the national Step It Up campaign to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050. The local campaign begins with a public meeting on April 10 and continues with a rally on April 14 and Earth Day on April 21.
Public meeting will be held Tuesday, April 10, 6 – 8 p.m., in Hagler Auditorium (Bldg. 2a), Pensacola Junior College (NW corner of campus) off Underwood between 9th and Tippin Ave.
Presenters will include Dr. Christopher Houser, assistant professor at the University of West Florida, whose areas of research are coastal morphology and physical geography; Michael O’Donovan, Pensacola photographer who has been trained in global warming communications by the national Climate Project; Dr. Enid Sisskin, a director of Gulf Coast Environmental Defense, an instructor in the Master of Public Health Program at the University of West Florida and a WUWF staff member; and Larry Chamblin of Sustainable West Florida.
Step It Up Rally will be held on Saturday, April 14, noon – 2 p.m., at the Pensacola Beach Pavilion.
Earth Day is Saturday, April 21, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., at Bayview Community Center on Bayou Texar at 2000 Lloyd Street, Pensacola (20th Ave. and Lloyd and Mallory Streets).
“Global Warming, Local Solutions†sponsors are Sustainable West Florida, Gulf Coast Environmental Defense, PTK Honor Society of Pensacola Junior College, and Student Environmental Action Society (SEAS) of the University of West Florida. Co-sponsors include the Northwest Florida Group of the Sierra Club, Citizens Against Toxic Exposure (CATE), Bay Area Safe Air Coalition (BASAC), League of Women Voters of the Pensacola Bay Area (LWV), Panhandle Progressives, Population Connection, and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE).
Since its release last year, the Al Gore documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, has drawn national attention to the potentially catastrophic effects of global warming. In a February report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided a new level of scientific certainty about climate change and created a new urgency for individual and collective action. “Global Warming, Local Solutions†seeks to stimulate action at the local level.