Unanimous Consent Request--S. Res. 551

Floor Speech

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Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I thank the great Senator from Rhode Island, from the Ocean State. I represent the Bay State. We kind of have a relationship with the ocean in Rhode Island and in Massachusetts. That is why we are here.

I rise today in support of Senator Whitehouse's resolution recognizing the grave threat of sea level rise due to human-caused climate change.

After decades of fossil fuel companies polluting our planet, ocean and atmospheric temperatures are rising. Our glaciers and ice sheets are melting.

Greenland's ice sheet is three times the size of Texas. And in some areas, the ice is 2 miles high. So just think of Greenland this way: 1,000 miles long, 300 miles wide, and a block of ice on it--the world's biggest ice cube--2 miles high is on top of Greenland, and it is melting.

So just think of a full glass of water: the Atlantic Ocean. Now, just drop the biggest ice cube into an already full--an already full--glass of water. It just creates a flood no matter where you have done that.

So in 2007, when Speaker Nancy Pelosi named me as the chair of the Climate Committee in the House of Representatives, she asked me: Where should we go?

And I said: Well, our first visit should be to Greenland because it is the scene of the crime.

So we went up there end of May and out about 50 miles deep into Greenland on top of the 2-mile high icecap, and there is already lakes that are forming because the Sun starts to melt it in May and June and July and August.

What that water does on top of that 2-mile high ice cube is it starts to eddy out groove marks all the way down to the bottom of that 2-mile high ice cube. And then that water--that now warm water--starts to liquefy the bottom of that body of ice. And they measure on the Richter scale ice quakes inside of that big ice cube.

And that is what is happening on the planet. Greenland is a perfect example. I am so glad that Senator Whitehouse raised it because it is the scene of the crime; and all along the East Coast, we are going to see absolutely catastrophic consequences if we don't stop it.

I mean 2 miles--I am thinking 30 football fields high of just ice going straight up in the air--30 football fields. That is what this is. That ice and ice all around the world is running into the ocean faster and faster and causing seas to rise.

The result has been sea level rise on a global scale. In the 20th century, sea levels rose nearly 9 inches over the 20th century. Now, as climate change speeds up, we are expected to see that amount of sea level rise from 2000 to 2030 as much as a foot--1 foot additionally--in just 30 years.

The rate of rise is accelerating, and if we continue to emit greenhouse gases that warm up that ice, sea level just won't quit. It is going to get worse and worse and worse. And for coastal communities across the country like those in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, this rate of rise is very, very real. It means more frequent and severe flooding events, eroding beaches, worsening storm surge, catastrophic consequences.

I mean, in the year 2000, there were three climate-related events that cost $1 billion worth of damage--three in 2000.

Two years ago, 27 events occurred in our country that cost $1 billion worth of damage, and the total amount was $180 billion just out of those 27 events, much less all of the other climate-related damage that was being caused.

It is getting worse and worse and worse, and it means billions of dollars in infrastructure damage, insurers raising premiums or exiting the insurance market for that part of the coastline altogether, and home values just keep dropping.

Senator Whitehouse has talked about this over and over again, warning like a latter-day Cassandra of the coming danger of the impact it is going have upon the valuations of homes, and it means serious risk to human health, to livelihoods, and to lives.

And in Massachusetts, from Winthrop to Chatham to Rockport, our communities are adapting. They are building seawalls, investing in flood modeling, raising homes, and restoring natural ecosystem barriers.

But sea level rise is a particularly challenging crisis. Even if we stabilize emissions, scientists believe that our seas could continue rising for centuries. What we can control is the future rate of sea level rise through our actions right now.

So the task is very clear for the Senate, for our country. We must immediately lower our emissions, invest in ocean science, and build resilient infrastructure to protect against the threat that is already built into the system.

So knowing all of this, what are President Trump and his administration up to? Instead of lowering emissions, they are blocking and killing and delaying 28,000 megawatts of clean energy projects that would cut greenhouse gas emissions instead of tethering the country further to pollution and costly fossil fuels.

Instead of investing in ocean science, President Trump is proposing to cut the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by more than a quarter, and that would slash the budget for the National Ocean Service, which coastal communities rely on for water level models, flood risk assessments, and weather forecasting. And it would eliminate the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and laboratories like the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory that have been the backbone of coastal scientific research for decades.

We need to understand our rising seas, not undermine science. Instead of investing in resilient infrastructure, Trump tried to eliminate FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program last year which would have delivered $90 million just to Massachusetts alone.

So let's be clear. These cuts will not save the government money. We are going to pay more on our energy bills. Not double, not triple, not 10 times more because we are not building in the safeguards, but an infinity size more. It is penny-wise but pound-foolish.

Prevention is preferable to cure. That is where we should be. We need to make sure that we send a message. The President and his administration do not care about coastal communities. They do not understand the seriousness of climate change. We have to reject these cuts to science. We have to protect clean energy investments. We have to have the backs of our climate and ocean scientists, and we must support our local governments and first responders on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

This resolution--the Whitehouse resolution--affirms the facts on sea level rise. These facts are forecast and felt on our coasts, and I urge my colleagues to support Senator Whitehouse's resolution and pass this commonsense resolution.

I yield back to my friend from Rhode Island.

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