Climate Change
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Mr. Garamendi from California, for organizing this evening's conversation, but more importantly, for drawing attention to this critically important issue.
It is more than a little bit shameful that the administration chose to release the Fourth National Climate Assessment on Black Friday, a day, as the gentleman noted, when most families, most people, are focused on the Thanksgiving holiday. Some are shopping, and some are hanging out with their family and friends. But it was clear that this was an apparent effort by the administration to introduce this report at a time when people weren't paying attention.
Fortunately, people are paying attention to this issue. We are seeing it with the concerns people have watching the fires in California; the floods and hurricanes this summer or fall in Florida; last year, with the hurricanes and flooding in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
The report that was released on Friday was a rigorous report, assembled by 13 Federal agencies and covering more than 1,000 pages of detailed analysis and data, highlighting the impacts we can expect over the next decades into the next century if action isn't taken.
Impacts include increased storms, flooding, devastation, mudslides from the size of these storms; loss of physical property; incalculable human cost from loss of life and other damages; droughts that are leading to fires, crop failures, loss of arable land, not just in our country, but, literally, around the world.
The facts are clear. But, again, the Trump administration tried to bury this report, and the President himself says he does not believe the report.
Well, to put it simply, this is not about beliefs. This is about science. The facts could not be clearer. Climate change is a serious threat to our Nation. It is a threat to our economy, to our national security, and to the planet that we pass on to our children. We need to take action now before it is too late.
The report forecasts that more severe storms, droughts, coastal flooding, and other climate effects could reduce the size of the American economy by 10 percent before the end of the century, almost doubling the impact to our economy of the Great Recession of 2008.
The recent fires in California were exacerbated by climate change, and more fires are forecast in the Southeast and throughout the West, if action isn't taken.
The agricultural Midwest, from where I come, will be particularly hard-hit. This report forecasts the farming sector could lose so much productivity that the crisis of the 1980s could even seem tame. We need to do something.
On the national security front, we will be affected. The report says that climate change variability and extreme events, in conjunction with other factors, can exacerbate conflict around the world, as we have already seen. Droughts, floods, storm surges, wildfires, and other extreme events stress nations and people through loss of life, displacement of populations, and impacts on livelihoods, the report continues.
While the White House refuses to make climate a priority, I am heartened that the Pentagon continues to treat this threat with the seriousness it deserves and focuses on it as a national security crisis.
This is a global challenge. It can only be met with a global response.
It needs the people of the world and the nations of the world to come together. This is literally a call to action for all of the people of the world. That is the power that was behind the Paris climate accord where every nation has come together and said: We must act, and we must act with urgency.
The world needs American leadership, and, sadly, this administration is turning away from that responsibility and that obligation. But thankfully, we are seeing many cities, communities, States, and even business leaders saying: We are in. We are not going to step away.
The Trump administration continues to say: We are walking away.
The Trump administration, in fact, continues to make matters worse. They rolled back the Clean Power Plan to slow our transition away from dirty forms of energy. They have undercut environmental regulations to limit methane pollution. Most significantly, last year, the President announced he was withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate agreement.
Climate change is a global problem that requires global solutions, and American leadership must play a role. We must stay within the Paris accord.
There is still time to fix this problem if we take action today. If we come together as a nation and if we come together as a world, then I hope we can do that in this body. I hope we can do this as a nation, and I hope this country can continue to lead to make sure that we pass on to our children an environment, a climate, and a world that is worthy of the legacy of our great Nation.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source