Here's where the President is traveling for the very first time this Wednesday:
That's the Everglades -- one of our country's most unique and treasured landscapes. But Wednesday's trip is about more than touring an iconic National Park on Earth Day. Here's why:
The Everglades are flat, and they border a rising ocean. As the sea levels rise, the shorelines erode, and that salty water travels inland, threatening the aquifers supplying fresh drinking water to Floridians. That doesn't just destroy a beautiful and unique national landscape. It threatens an $82 billion state tourism economy, and drinking water for more than 7 million Americans -- more than a third of Florida's population.
This Earth Day, we're far beyond a debate about climate change's existence. We're focused on mitigating its very real effects here at home, preparing our communities where its impacts are already being felt, and leading an international effort for action. And the President has already acted in big ways. Over the last eight years, the United States has cut more carbon pollution than any other country, while creating 12.1 million private-sector jobs over 61 months; setting aside more public lands and waters than any administration in history; and releasing a Clean Power Plan to curb carbon pollution from existing power plants -- the single-biggest source of carbon pollution in the U.S.
And the President is continuing to act. Recently, he joined the Surgeon General for a powerful conversation about the real impacts of climate change on the health of our families, and this week he will be showing how tackling climate change means protecting our local businesses and economies. Taking on this issue means preventing more asthma attacks and premature deaths, billions in revenue loss, and the potential disappearance of natural habitats for our wildlife.
So we'll be spending the week showing exactly what we're doing to tackle one of our country's greatest challenges. On Monday, the White House will issue a Presidential Proclamation highlighting the impact of national parks on our local economies. On Tuesday, we'll announce four landscapes throughout the country where we'll focus our conservation and climate resilience efforts. Later in the week, we'll announce how we're investing millions in new funding to protect those parks, as well as new actions the Department of Agriculture will take in partnership with farmers, ranchers and forest land owners to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions.
That's our part. Here's what you can do: Make this real for your friends, family, and the people who follow you on social media. Because we all have a place like the Everglades -- a place we feel personally connected to and invested in. This week, there's something we can do to change the way people think about climate change by connecting it to the spaces we love and our local communities.
Share yours here, and then share it with your friends and followers on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram using the hashtag #ActOnClimate.
For me, one of those places is Acadia National Park -- where you can enjoy islands, mountains, oceans, and beaches in one place. Acadia also attracts more than 2 million visits each year, providing a major boost to the local economy. I want to make sure my daughter can enjoy Acadia the way I've enjoyed it. I want her kids to be able to enjoy it, too. It's a place I'm willing to fight to protect. Share yours right now (and if you need to find one, you can do that here).
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