AGENDA #3a(3)

A PETITION TO THE CHAPEL HILL, NC TOWN COUNCIL FOR ITS CONSIDERATION AND ACTION:

WHEREAS environmental groups, Boulder, CO and no less than three cities in California have joined a lawsuit against certain government agencies of the United States alleging that private overseas development projects financially backed by these US agencies contribute to climate change, specifically global warming; and

WHEREAS the plaintiffs' now have standing in the federal court and have argued that the National Environmental Policy Act, the law requiring environmental assessments of proposals of development projects in the US, applies to similar projects outside the United States; and  

WHEREAS the two US government agencies, known as the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Import-Export Bank of the United States, provide financial backing to overseas development projects that result in the degradation of the US environment; and

WHEREAS these two agencies of the government claim that US environmental regulations do not apply to overseas projects and that the US courts have no right to intervene; and 

WHEREAS the southeastern United States, the Great State of North Carolina, and human and environmental health in the Town of Chapel Hill could be adversely affected by the increasing number and intensity of climate change-induced hurricanes, among other natural disasters,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Council consider and take whatever action, if any, it deems appropriate to provide aid and support to the plaintiffs in this legal action.

Please let me know if it will be possible for me to present this petition at a future meeting of the Town Council.

Thank you,

Steve Salmony

(Steven Earl Salmony

1834 North Lakeshore Drive

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-6733

Tele: 919-967-5764

Email: [email protected])