JEANNE SHAHEEN VISITS FISH LADDER AT COCHECO FALLS IN DOVER, DISCUSSES IMPACT OF GLOBAL WARMING ON SEACOAST ECOSYSTEM AND ECONOM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 20, 2008

CONTACT:
Kate Bedingfield
603 782 4613 (o)/603 361 8036 (c)/ kbedingfield@jeanneshaheen.org

Caitlin Legacki
603 782 4613 (o)/603 361 9643 (c)/ clegacki@jeanneshaheen.org

JEANNE SHAHEEN VISITS FISH LADDER AT COCHECO FALLS IN DOVER, DISCUSSES IMPACT OF GLOBAL WARMING ON SEACOAST ECOSYSTEM AND ECONOMY

(Dover, NH) – Today, former Governor and current candidate for US Senate Jeanne Shaheen visited the fish ladder at Cocheco Falls in downtown Dover as New Hampshire Fish and Game employees assisted migrating herring through the ladder.  Shaheen addressed the impact of global warming on the Seacoast ecosystem and economy, and outlined steps she supports to reverse global warming.

"The work that New Hampshire Fish and Game is doing here today to assist and count river herring is remarkable," Shaheen said.  "Ensuring that herring are able to migrate successfully and procreate has a lasting impact on both the ecosystem and the economy of this area.  But global warming and climate change are jeopardizing the health of this population and so many other animal populations in the region."

Sea levels are expected to rise as much as 6 inches in the next 50 years, threatening the habitats of animals on the coast and disrupting the ecosystem.  Drastic changes in the ecosystem impact the New Hampshire economy.  Commercial fishermen pull in smaller catches, and tourism is affected as sport fishermen find other places to fish.

"Climate change damages our wildlife and threatens our economy," Shaheen added.  "We must take significant steps to reverse global warming now."

Shaheen supports:

*Setting a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

*Instituting economy-wide emissions reductions in our own country and working with international partners to achieve global emissions reductions.  To reduce emissions, Shaheen believes we should institute a cap-and-trade system which limits pollutants by selling permits to corporations who pollute and enforcing caps on the amount of pollution they can emit.  The profits from the auction of those permits should be invested in the development of clean, alternative energy sources like wind, solar and wood by-products.

*Developing a significant shift in our long-term energy policy by ending billions of dollars in tax breaks to Big Oil and instead investing that money in the development of renewable energy sources.

*Shifting tax incentives from corn-based ethanol to wood-based ethanol.  Developing wood-based ethanol would provide a clean alternative energy source that would not impact the global food supply and, thanks to New Hampshire's abundant forests, would create jobs right here in the state.