Climate Change

Floor Speech

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Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, as a lot of our colleagues here know, Senator Whitehouse is not just a distinguished Senator but one of my very good friends here in the U.S. Senate. So I always respect what he has to say, and I appreciate his words. He and I have done a lot of work--some key work, particularly on issues of the environment and cleaning up our oceans--ocean acidification--and I look forward to continuing to work with him. Climate change is also, certainly, happening in my State. We are seeing it. No doubt about it.

My point is we have an economy that is in recession, and you have tens of thousands--literally, hundreds of thousands--of people out of work, and you have a sector that is important--critical, actually--the energy sector. There is no doubt about it. I know we can use words like spewing and polluters, but the energy sector has been one of the things that has made this country so strong, with great jobs--middle-class jobs--and people can't deny that. All I am asking for is for the new Secretary of the Treasury to look at that.

We are looking at the whole U.S. economy and the strength of our recovery and good-paying jobs. That has to be taken into account. What I worry about is that it is not. We need a debate, and I would welcome it with my good friend on: What is the strategy? The strategy out of the box can't be that we are going to go after these oil and gas jobs and put people out of work. And replace it with what?

We had a hearing in the Commerce Committee with the new, incoming Transportation Secretary. A lot of people asked: Well, what are you going to replace it with? What are you telling the 10,000 guys who just lost their jobs on the Keystone Pipeline their new jobs are going to be? They have mortgages and tuitions to pay. They are out of work right now. So we need a strategy.

Look, I look forward to working on all of these issues with my good friend from Rhode Island, but it is, I think, a first. If you look back at the great history of this Nation, if you don't have a U.S. Treasury Secretary or other members of the Cabinet who are for a robust, strong energy sector--which, of course, would include renewables--that is new, that is different, and, I think, it is very troubling, particularly as it relates to the jobs that, I think, are going to be sacrificed on a policy and a strategy that I have not seen the meat and bones of yet. I am just seeing the damage, and a lot of the damage is starting to happen to the people I care about, particularly in my State, who work in these sectors and who are great Americans who have helped build this country and build my State. We can't just disregard them and say: Don't worry; you are going to get a green job later.

It is tough to tell people that. It is tough to tell people that when they have mortgages and tuitions, and we are relying on them.

So I commit to continuing to work on these issues and others with my friend from Rhode Island. I appreciate his coming down here, but I wanted to explain my vote on an issue that I think we need to debate here in the Senate that is important for our Nation.

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