PROVIDENCE -- Top elected and environmental officials in Rhode Island greeted the "I Will Act on Climate" 27-state bus tour as it made a stop here today.
The bus tour -- whose organizers say they are supported by a coalition of business, environmental and health groups -- pulled into the Chafee Health Center on Allens Avenue on Wednesday morning. The Providence Community Health Centers location was chosen to underscore the health impacts of climate change, including hotter weather and unhealthy ozone conditions.
"It's a very personal issue to me. I have had respiratory illnesses since I was six months old," Nick Friend, 15, of East Providence, told the gathering. "I know I will not be able to go outside [on bad ozone days]. It gets very frustrating when we have a few of these days in a row."
Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, visited Rhode Island to meet with area environmental officials and to greet the bus.
"It's a public health issue, an environmental issue and an economic issue," she said, noting that President Obama has announced an initiative to reduce carbon emissions, adapt to climate change and lead the world in addressing climate change.
Also present were Gov. Chafee, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Rep. James Langevin and EPA regional administrator Curt Spalding.