As part of its commitment to the environment and addressing the effects of climate change, the spokesman for the New Progressive Party delegation to the House of Representatives, Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Núñez, has reported the creation of a Working Group (Task Force) aimed at assessing comprehensive legislation and reforms that address the needs and tend to all aspects related to global warming over the archipelago of Puerto Rico.
Méndez Núñez appointed the representative for the District # 17 of Aguadilla and Moca, Wilson Román López, to lead the ‘Task Force’. Also representing will be the representative for District # 4 of San Juan and expert in energy issues, Víctor Parés Otero and the representative for District # 38 of Carolina, Canóvanas and Trujillo Alt, Wanda de la Vall.
“The effects of climate change, including global warming, are real. We can differ on the extent of them, but denying that there is no longer an option for anyone, on the contrary, the faster we accept this reality. “Then we can develop a public policy aimed at mitigating the impact of this effect on our people,” said the former president of the lower house.
The designation of the Task Force is made in commemoration of Global Climate Action Day.
“The challenges of climate change for Puerto Rico are many, starting with the lack of abundant rainfall. Over the last two decades (2000-2010 and the present, 2011-) the number of drought periods has doubled in compared to the previous 40. In the 1980s only three drought events were recorded on the Island.In the 1990s there were five, including two of the longest in our history, as well as in 1994, drier in Puerto Rico since 1934, “the neo-progressive leader added.
Among the Task Force’s responsibilities is to outline strategies for dealing with increasingly long and pronounced drought events, as well as planning for when it rains, which experts say will be more extreme, which will exacerbate the impacts of flooding and coastal erosion, among others.
The Fourth Climate Assessment, Volume II, published in 2019 by the U.S. Program for Research on Global Change, a report — required by Congress — devotes a chapter exclusively to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, an area known as the American Caribbean. In the three previous editions, information about the region was included in the chapter for the southeastern United States.
Also, it is the first time it is published in English and Spanish. The report details what we know, climate change is real and we need to act.
When Méndez Núñez chaired the House of Representatives, he first created a commission to address this situation, the Special Commission for the Study of Climate Change and Global Warming.
“We want to assess, in particular, what can be done to reduce the impact of climate change on the coasts, infrastructure, ecosystems, economic development, tourism industry and preparation of public safety elements in the face of new challenges of atmospheric phenomena; proposals and formulation of the public energy policy of our archipelago, especially that aimed at reducing dependence on fossil fuels and encouraging the creation and use of organic fuel, the use, “he concluded.