Executive Order

              2006-11
EXECUTIVE ORDER ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND GREENHOUSE GAS
REDUCTION
WHEREAS, the
consensus is that increasing emissions of greenhouse gases are causing global
temperatures to rise at rates that could cause worldwide economic disruption,
environmental damage and public health crises;
WHEREAS, global warming is largely due to the combustion of fossil fuels that release
carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere;
WHEREAS, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the National Academy
of Sciences have reported that atmospheric carbon dioxide is at the highest level in more
than 500,000 years;
WHEREAS, average global temperatures were the hottest on record ten of the past
sixteen years. Scientists have predicted that temperatures in Illinois could rise
significantly by the end of this century, leading to hotter summers, shorter winters, and
increased drought and flood events;
WHEREAS, these effects could strain drinking water supplies, overwhelm sewage
treatment capacity, reduce the water level of Lake Michigan, destroy wetlands, erode soil,
and harm croplands, ecosystems and habitats, among other damaging effects;
WHEREAS, leading climatologists have estimated that less than a decade remains
before global warming could be irreversible and that governments, businesses and
households must act now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
WHEREAS, 165 countries and other entities around the world have signed the Kyoto
protocol in recognition of the urgency in acting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
WHEREAS, many business leaders, including large manufacturing and insurance
companies worldwide, have recognized the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
WHEREAS, the United States government has failed to sign the Kyoto protocol or to
enact policies to reduce national greenhouse gas emissions;
WHEREAS, this lack of federal leadership leaves the United States, the world’s largest
emitter of greenhouse gases, without an effective national strategy to address the threat of
global climate change, that includes rising sea levels, droughts, flooding, severe weather
events, the expansion of diseases and invasive species, and economic dislocation;
WHEREAS, the State of Illinois recognizes that states can play an integral role in
adopting policies to address climate change and promote strategies to reduce greenhouse
gases while advancing technologies to develop clean, renewable and homegrown energy
resources;
WHEREAS, the State of Illinois is a national leader in addressing climate change by
reducing greenhouse gas emissions though the production and use of biofuels, purchasing