Reliable Public Transit Instrumental in Climate Change Mitigation
Last Thursday, CNT and other top regional environmental leaders held a press conference to speak out about the importance of public transit and the need to find a long-term solution to the pending transit crisis in Northeastern Illinois. Factor in global warming implications and the need to invest in infrastructure that can help mitigate the effects becomes even more timely and important.
“The Governor has publicly stated that Illinois should cut the production of greenhouse gasses to 1990 levels by 2020,” Scott Bernstein, President of CNT, reminded the group. “Since motor vehicles alone account for more than one third of greenhouse gasses, there is simply no way to achieve that kind goal without strong regional transit. Transit will be the backbone of any successful climate change strategy in Illinois.”
The group signed a petition that was delivered to Governor Blagojevich as well as party leaders in the General Assembly, which has until July 1st to take action on the $226 million deficit faced by the CTA, Metra, and Pace.
Read the press release here.
Also, join Transit Future tomorrow in Springfield for a press conference urging Governor Blagojevich and the Illinois General Assembly to act on transit funding proposals. Improving the region’s transit system is the surest method to reduce air pollution, curb sprawling development and mitigate emissions of global warming gases. More information on tomorrow’s event at http://transitfuture.cnt.org/.
