Climate Crisis

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, to my colleague and my neighbor from Illinois (Mr. Casten), I thank him for his leadership on this issue, his experience in sharing his perspective, and his call to action.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to continue to raise the alarm about the rapidly accelerating consequences of the climate crisis.

Mr. Speaker, 30 years ago in 1989 I married the love of my life. When we got married, we looked to the future. We thought about having a family. We have two sons who are today 28 and 26. We still look to the future and hope they will have a chance to raise a family. But that is in doubt because we face a climate crisis.

The climate crisis is the most pressing threat to our children's future and our grandchildren's future. It is a threat to our Nation and to everything we hold dear. It is an existential threat to our way of life, and we have to take urgent action now.

We are already seeing the consequences of climate change throughout our country in our local communities, whether it is the case of more intense forest fires that are starting earlier in the year, 100-year rainstorms that cause floods, not every 100 years but every other year, or more intense hurricanes and also droughts that are devastating much of our West.

These are the consequences we are facing today, and they are putting our Nation at risk. We have to do everything we can to protect our communities, to protect our Nation, to protect our world, and to protect our children's future.

That is why it is so important that we pass the President's American Jobs Plan, that we invest in infrastructure, and that we do it in a way that builds resiliency against a changing climate but plans for a future to address and protect our climate.

There are many sources of the greenhouse gases causing global warming, everything from industry to industrial and commercial buildings, our residences, but, of course, transportation is the greatest source, and among that is air travel.

Airline travel is a growing part of our future, but it is contributing up to 2\1/2\ percent of our total emissions of carbon. Air travel has changed the world. It has brought us closer together. It is necessary for us to continue to have the hope for a 21st century global economy. But it is imperative that we work to address the impact.

That is why, among the many other bills I have helped work for and support in this Congress to address climate change, I am proud to have introduced the Sustainable Skies Act, legislation that will cut the carbon of greenhouse gas emissions of airline fuels by as much as or more than 50 percent. It will boost the use of sustainable aviation fuel to make airline travel something that will be a part of a sustainable future.

This legislation is the single most important step in the aviation industry that they can take to lower carbon emissions and to fight climate change. At the same time, sustainable aviation fuel will also enable more travel and commerce. It is, as Mr. Casten said, a win-win. It is good for everybody. It is good for our present, it is good for our future, and it is good for our children.

The facts could not be clearer: climate change is a serious threat to our economy, our national security, the planet, and the future that we pass on to our children. We must take action before it is too late.

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