Janet Long partners with federal officials to further climate change response

Pinellas County Commissioner Janet Long offered input into federal plans to combat climate change.

Long, who faces reelection this year, worked with Congresswoman Kathy Castor over the past year on identifying challenges facing Pinellas County.

Last year, she traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in discussions on sea level rise, flooding and climate change with senior counsel to the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, which Castor chairs with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Now, the committee unveiled its “Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America.”

“Addressing the climate crisis requires a comprehensive plan like the one the Climate Select Committee is proposing to dramatically reduce the dangerous carbon pollution warming our planet,” Long said. “If Congress acts, we can help people save money on power bills, create new high-paying jobs, and develop new technologies that will usher in a transition to an American-based, clean energy economy.”

“Vulnerable coastal communities like ours in Pinellas County need action now to avoid the worst implications of sea level rise and climate change, and this proposal gives us hope.”

The plan calls on Congress to grow the economy with clean energy jobs, protect health for all families, ensure communities and farmers can weather climate change and protect the nation’s land and water for the next generation.