US Climate Alliance
<div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.333;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></h3><div style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://insideclimatenews.org/news/05022019/michigan-whitmer-office-climate-change-energy-filnt-water-policies-climate-alliance</font></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan signed orders on Monday to revamp the state's environmental policy apparatus, becoming the latest newly elected Democratic leader in an industrial swing state to pick up the reins of action on climate change.</font></div><div class="content" style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="field-items" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Whitmer is creating a new <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/0,9309,7-387-90499_90705-488736--,00.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">office of climate and energy</a> that will coordinate efforts across state government to address climate change and will ensure that climate change is a consideration in the vetting of new policies.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">She also signed an order to join the <a href="https://www.usclimatealliance.org/" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">U.S. Climate Alliance</a>, a group of governors who commit to upholding the principles of the <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/tags/paris-climate-agreement" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Paris climate agreement</a>. Michigan is the 20th governor to join, following similar actions by others who came to power after running green campaigns and toppling Republican incumbents. In the past few weeks, the governors of <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24012019/great-lakes-governors-climate-change-clean-enegy-pipelines-michigan-illinois-attorney-general-clean-power-plan-lawsuits" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Illinois</a> and <a href="https://www.governor.state.nm.us/2019/01/29/gov-lujan-grisham-signs-executive-order-committing-new-mexico-to-essential-climate-change-action/" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">New Mexico</a> have also joined.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Michigan stood out as a fulcrum of Donald Trump's narrow electoral victory. It's an economic monument to the internal combustion engine, but also a place where the urgency of confronting environmental challenges, including climate change, can't be ignored.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">....</span></p></div></div></div></div></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> =</font></p><p style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24012019/great-lakes-governors-climate-change-clean-enegy-pipelines-michigan-illinois-attorney-general-clean-power-plan-lawsuits">https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24012019/great-lakes-governors-climate-change-clean-enegy-pipelines-michigan-illinois-attorney-general-clean-power-plan-lawsuits</a></font></p><p style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Climate change poses risks to the economy and identity of a Great Lakes landscape, much of it defined by bountiful farms, pine forests and clear waters. But political leaders haven't always treated it that way.</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That's starting to change as a wave of new governors and attorneys general take office across the region with promises—and actions—to address climate change.</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The regional changes may signal a new dynamic for national debates, as climate policy advocates broaden their base of support to include some of the country's hubs of manufacturing and <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24102018/farm-bureau-climate-change-denial-farmers-crop-insurance-subsidies-drought-future-at-risk" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">farming</a>. It also is happening at a time of growing urgency for concerted state-level efforts on climate change in response to the federal government's push to roll back greenhouse gas emissions rules.</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It's really crucial in this time when there are so many environmental policies going the wrong way to have more hands on deck," said Kim Smaczniak, a staff attorney for Earthjustice.</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>This year, Michigan, Illinois and <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Wisconsin</span> each switched from a Republican governor to a Democrat.</b> In both Michigan and Illinois, the governors have made moves on climate change issues in their first 10 days.</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Michigan and Wisconsin also have new Democratic attorneys general replacing Republicans.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The upshot from the 2018 election is that Democrats now hold both the governor's and attorney general's office in six of the eight states that border the Great Lakes.</span></font></p><div class="media media-element-container media-image_centered_medium" style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 648px; margin: 0.25em auto;"><figure id="file-272139" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" class="file file-image file-image-png" style="box-sizing: inherit; max-width: 100%; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[map]</font></figure></div><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Democratic electoral waves have hit the Great Lakes region before and given hope to environmental advocates, only to be undone by later political cycles.</b> In 2007, a group of states and a Canadian province aimed to start a cap-and-trade system for reducing carbon emissions. But their Midwest Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord ceased to function by about 2010 as newly elected officials dropped their states' support for the plan.</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Today, climate change is increasingly evident in the extreme weather, heat waves and algae blooms that hurt agriculture, drinking water and tourism, as the <a href="https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/21/" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Midwest chapter</a> of the 2018 National Climate Assessment describes.</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Falling prices for renewable power are also shifting the energy landscape. While most utilities in the region still depend heavily on coal, many are now exploring <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02012019/renewable-energy-tipping-point-midwest-2018-year-review-utilities-wind-solar-xcel-100-percent" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">expanding their use of clean energy</a> and retiring coal-fired power plants early. There is potential for offshore wind energy in the Great Lakes and advancements in onshore wind, solar and energy storage. And the new governors are bringing different views on the construction of fossil fuel pipelines.</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We want it to be bipartisan. We want it to be pragmatic," said Tyler Huebner, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a clean energy advocacy group. "We want it to be everyone understanding the benefits so this transition can continue unimpeded."</font></p><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.333;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Michigan: Challenging a Pipeline – and Trump</font></h3><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The new dynamic was on display on Jan. 2, when newly elected Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer started a legal fight against <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04102018/oil-pipeline-shut-down-enbridge-line-5-straits-mackinac-michigan-election-snyder" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Enbridge Line 5</a>, an aging fossil fuel pipeline that passes under the Great Lakes at the Straits of Mackinac.</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">She sent a <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/documents/whitmer/Governor_Whitmer_Letter_to_AG_Nessel_re_2018_PA_359_642447_7.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">letter</a> to state Attorney General Dana Nessel seeking a legal opinion that could help to undo a plan to replace the pipeline. Nessel is also brand new to the job, and, like Whitmer, very different from her Republican predecessor.</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.333;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Wisconsin: Changing the Tone After Walker</font></h3><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At a <a href="http://www.wuwm.com/post/evers-says-its-important-wisconsin-moves-forward-renewable-energy#stream/0" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">renewable energy conference</a> last week, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers also spoke about the need to address climate change.</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We shouldn't have to choose between investing in new industries and protecting our natural resources like our land, rivers and waters," Evers said.</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">His predecessor, Republican Scott Walker, was <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2016/12/28/dnr-purges-climate-change-on-web-page/95929564/" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">criticized during his tenure</a> for ignoring climate change and for downplaying humans' role in causing it.</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Evers, however, is limited in how much he can do. The Democrat faces a legislature controlled by Republicans and the added constraint of a widely derided <a href="https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2017/related/proposals/sb884" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">bill</a> Walker signed after losing reelection that <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/14/scott-walker-signs-lame-duck-legislation/2313111002/" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">reduces the power of the governor's office</a> in several ways.</font></p><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.333;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Illinois: Joining the U.S. Climate Alliance</font></h3><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, also a Democrat, has replaced Republican Bruce Rauner, who talked little about climate change and downplayed its effects while also supporting expanding the oil and gas industry in the state.</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"There was both the perception and the reality that (Walker and Rauner) were moving their states backwards when it came to core environmental policies and values that were broadly supported by people of the state," said Howard Learner, president and executive director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center.</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In his <a href="https://www.sj-r.com/news/20190114/full-text-gov-jb-pritzkers-inaugural-address" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">inaugural address</a>, Pritzker made a point to say: "I believe in science."</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On Wednesday, <b>Pritzker <a href="https://www2.illinois.gov/Pages/news-item.aspx?ReleaseID=19626" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;">officially signed</a> onto the U.S. Climate Alliance, </b>becoming the 18th governor to join the group and commit the state to the principles of the Paris climate agreement. His <a href="https://www2.illinois.gov/IISNews/19626-Executive_Order_2019-06.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">executive order</a> also directed the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to monitor the Trump administration's environmental proposals and identify ways to protect Illinois residents from environmental harm.</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"While the president is intent on taking us backwards, I will work hard every day to move our state forward," Pritzker said. "We know that climate change is real. We know it's a threat. And we know we must act."</font></p><p style="font-size: medium; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p><div style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.ecowatch.com/paris-agreement-governors-us-climate-alliance-2574246495.html</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h1 class="widgetheadline h1" style="margin: 10px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; word-wrap: break-word; line-height: 22px;"><a class="widgetheadline-text custom-post-headline" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/paris-agreement-governors-us-climate-alliance-2574246495.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; line-height: 31px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">17 Governors Renew Climate Pledges on Anniversary of Trump's Paris Accord Retreat</font></a></h1><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url expanded" data-elid="2574246495" data-authors="Lorraine Chow" data-headline="17 Governors Renew Climate Pledges on Anniversary of Trump's Paris Accord Retreat" style="margin: 10px; line-height: 24px;"><div class="body-description"><div class="widget__brief"><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A year ago today, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/trump" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">President Donald Trump</a> announced plans to withdraw the U.S. from the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Paris climate agreement</a>. His action <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/syria-paris-agreement-2507449170.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">spurred</a> Syria and Nicaragua, the only two holdout countries, to join the landmark deal to limit warming well below the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-tipping-point-2014030487.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">dangerous threshold</a> of 2°C.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While the federal government falters, scores of businesses, institutions, cities and states across the nation are bucking Trump and remain committed to the goals of the global climate accord.</font></p></div><div class="js-appear-on-expand" style="transition: all 350ms; height: auto; overflow: hidden; opacity: 1;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Today, the governors of <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">sixteen states and Puerto Rico that make up the <a href="https://www.usclimatealliance.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">U.S. Climate Alliance</a> </span>recommitted their pledges to the Paris agreement and announced a new wave of initiatives to accelerate and scale up climate action.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"The U.S. Climate Alliance now represents 40 percent of the U.S. population and a $9 trillion economy, greater than the third-largest country in the world, and U.S. Climate Alliance states are on track to meet their share of the Paris Agreement emissions target by 2025," the states <a href="https://www.usclimatealliance.org/publications/oneyearanniversary" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">reported</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The bi-partisan alliance, formed on the same day Trump announced the Paris retreat, includes the governors of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In an op-ed published in <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/06/01/climate-change-work-continues-trumps-paris-retreat-governors-column/661059002/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">USA TODAY</a>, alliance co-chairs and Democratic Govs. Jerry Brown of California, Andrew Cuomo of New York and Jay Inslee of Washington explained that climate goals and economic growth can be met at the same time.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">"President Trump's announcement last year centered on his allegation that the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-trump-paris-climate-accord/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Paris Agreement hurts the U.S. economy</a>. The fact that our collective economies are stronger than non-alliance states proves just the opposite," they wrote. "Alliance states are not only reducing emissions more rapidly than the rest of the country, but we are also expanding our<a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a4cfbfe18b27d4da21c9361/t/5a5e7f169140b79e6fe04f50/1516142359401/USCA_Climate_Report-V2A-Online-RGB.PDF" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;"> per capita economic output</a> twice as fast. Alliance states are attracting billions of dollars in climate and clean energy investments that have created 1.3 million clean energy jobs. The Alliance states are not alone: meeting the most ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement is projected to save the world <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/23/hitting-toughest-climate-target-will-save-world-30tn-in-damages-analysis-shows" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">$30 trillion</a> in avoided economic damages."</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Some of the governors' new measures include a commitment to reduce super pollutants such as methane, hydrofluorocarbons and black carbon. Among other initiatives, they intend to create their own "<a href="https://www.usclimatealliance.org/greenbanks/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">green bank</a>" to fund sustainable infrastructure projects, a <a href="https://www.usclimatealliance.org/solarsoftcosts/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Solar Soft Costs Initiative</a> to reduce the costs of solar projects, and a plan to accelerate deployment of zero-emissions vehicles and expand and improve mass transit.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Even though the U.S. cannot formally exit the Paris agreement until 2020, the Trump administration's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/offshore-drilling-plan-threatens-national-parks-2572085375.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">love of fossil fuels</a> is already pushing the country's Paris target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 26-28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025 out of reach, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/03/28/climate/trumps-executive-order-pushes-the-us-climate-pledge-further-out-of-reach.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">New York Times</a> reported.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">It's clear that non-federal entities will have to continue working to fill this void. As Brown, Cuomo and Inslee wrote in their op-ed, "We will work in lockstep with the nations of the world and continue our work to uphold the Paris Agreement. However, it is clear that we cannot meet the climate challenge alone. We need commitment from every U.S. state and we need the federal government to get back in the game."</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">"We invite others to join us and mark June 1 not as an anniversary of retreat, but as the moment when a bold, new movement of climate action took root in America."</font></p></div></div></div></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">---</font></div>