On the day that the World Meteorological Organization reported that carbon dioxide levels are at a new record high, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor called on businesses and governments to put more resources into lowering greenhouse gases.

To make her point, Castor gave fellow U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, ranking member of the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee, a tour of a co-generation energy plant at St. Joseph’s Hospital.

The plant burns natural gas and produces enough energy to power 250 homes. That reduces the hospital’s energy bill by roughly $200,000 per year, hospital officials said. The heat produced by the plant is also captured, converted into steam and used to sterilize medical equipment.

“It is a model for the nation,” Castor said. “We’ve got to get creative. In Florida, we have to reduce our carbon pollution by well over 30 percent over the next 20 years.”

Pallone also got a tour of the hospital’s medical waste treatment system. In 2014, some 2.4 million pounds of medical waste was pulverized into a mulch-like substance that is then burned to create energy at the Mckay Bay Refuse to Energy Facility.

“This is something we would love to replicate in New Jersey and other parts of the country,” Pallone said.

The push to cut Florida’s greenhouse gases comes from President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan announced in August. It requires a 30 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.

The plan is a response to reports like the one from the World Meteorological Organization that shows the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen by 43 percent since the Industrial Revolution. Consensus among scientists is that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are behind global warming.

The plan, which the Environmental Protection Agency plans to enforce through the Clean Air Act, has been challenged in the courts by at least 24 states, including Florida. All but two of the states have Republican governors.

Among the criticisms of the plan are that it will drive up costs, including utility bills for consumers, and decimate the coal industry.

Castor warned that the cost to the nation will be much greater if action isn’t taken now.

“Remember Florida is the most vulnerable state when it comes to the changing climate,” Castor said. “Unless we can tackle those challenges now, it’s going to be desperate time for the folks who live here and our businesses later on.”