    [House Hearing, 116 Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

        VOICES LEADING THE NEXT GENERATION ON THE GLOBAL CLIMATE CRISIS

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

          SUBCOMMITTEE ON EUROPE, EURASIA, ENERGY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT

                                     OF THE

                          COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
                            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                         ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                               September 18, 2019

                                   __________

                               Serial No. 116-62

                                   __________

            Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

     [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

           Available:  http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/, http://
                                docs.house.gov,
                          or http://www.govinfo.gov

                                ______

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
     37-705 PDF              WASHINGTON : 2019

                          COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

                       ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York, Chairman

    BRAD SHERMAN, California             MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas, Ranking
    GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York               Member
    ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey              CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey
    GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia         STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
    THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida          JOE WILSON, South Carolina
    KAREN BASS, California               SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania
    WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts       TED S. YOHO, Florida
    DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island        ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois
    AMI BERA, California                 LEE ZELDIN, New York
    JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas                JIM SENSENBRENNER, Wisconsin
    DINA TITUS, Nevada                   ANN WAGNER, Missouri
    ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York          BRIAN MAST, Florida
    TED LIEU, California                 FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida
    SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania             BRIAN FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania
    DEAN PHILLIPS, Minnesota             JOHN CURTIS, Utah
    ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota                KEN BUCK, Colorado
    COLIN ALLRED, Texas                  RON WRIGHT, Texas
    ANDY LEVIN, Michigan                 GUY RESCHENTHALER, Pennsylvania
    ABIGAIL SPANBERGER, Virginia         TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee
    CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania       GREG PENCE, Indiana
    TOM MALINOWSKI, New Jersey           STEVE WATKINS, Kansas
    DAVID TRONE, Maryland                MIKE GUEST, Mississippi
    JIM COSTA, California
    JUAN VARGAS, California
    VICENTE GONZALEZ, Texas

                        Jason Steinbaum, Staff Director

                   Brendan Shields, Republican Staff Director
                                     ------

          Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy, and The Environment

                    WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts, Chairman

    ABIGAIL SPANBERGER, Virginia         ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois, Ranking
    GREGORY MEEKS, New York                  Member
    ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey              JOE WILSON, South Carolina
    THEODORE DEUTCH, Florida             ANN WAGNER, Missouri
    DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island        JIM SENSENBRENNER, Wisconsin
    JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas                FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida
    DINA TITUS, Nevada                   BRIAN FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania
    SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania             GREG PENCE, Indiana
    DAVID TRONE, Maryland                RON WRIGHT, Texas
    JIM COSTA, California                MIKE GUEST, Mississippi
    VICENTE GONZALEZ, Texas              TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee

                        Gabrielle Gould, Staff Director
                     INFORMATION REFERRED TO FOR THE RECORD

    Information referred from Mr. Graves.............................     8

                                   WITNESSES

    Thunberg, Ms. Greta, Founder, Fridays for Future.................    11
    Margolin, Ms. Jamie, Co-Founder, This is Zero Hour, Plaintiff,
      Piper v. State of Washington...................................    14
    Barrett, Mr. Vic, Fellow, Alliance for Climate Education,
      Plaintiff, Juliana v. United States............................    20
    Backer, Mr. Benji, President, American Conservation Coalition....    47

                                    APPENDIX

    Hearing Notice...................................................    65
    Hearing Minutes..................................................    66
    Hearing Attendance...............................................    67

           STATEMENTS FOR THE RECORD SUBMITTED FROM COMMITTEE MEMBERS

    Statement submitted for the record from Representative Costa.....    68

                 ADDITIONAL MATERIALS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

    Summary of Policymakers..........................................    69
    Court case.......................................................    92
    Submission for the record from Representative Carter.............   100

        VOICES LEADING THE NEXT GENERATION ON THE GLOBAL CLIMATE CRISIS

                         Wednesday, September 18, 2019

                           House of Representatives,

                        Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia,

                          Energy, and the Environment,

                  Committee on Foreign Affairs, Joint With the

                    Select Committee on the Climate Crisis,

                                         Washington, DC

        The committees met, pursuant to notice, at 10:11 a.m., in
    room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. William R.
    Keating (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
        Mr. Keating. The hearing will come to order. Chairman Engel
    is joining us. We are here joined by the Select Committee on
    Climate Crisis and an esteemed panel of witnesses for this
    hearing on ``The Voices Leading the Next Generation on the
    Global Climate Crisis.''
        I know a few of our witnesses have a hard stop at 11:30 in
    order to get to their next event advocating on these issues, so
    I will just ask that all the members keep their questioning to
    5 minutes or less so we can fit in as many members as possible.
        Without objection, all the members may have 5 days to
    submit statements, questions, extraneous materials for the
    record, subject to the length limitation in the rules.
        And I would just like to call on the chairman of the full
    committee, who has a few words to offer.
        Chairman Engel.
        Mr. Engel. Good morning, everyone. I just wanted to invite
    everyone to come to the Foreign Affairs Committee, and by the
    looks of it, you are all here. I want to welcome everybody.
        Climate change is certainly something that is so important,
    and the aggravating thing about it is that there are so many
    who still deny it. So I look forward to listening to what our
    young people are saying today because the world is really their
    future, and we owe it to them to do what we can now to make
    sure that the world is saved.
        And climate change is certainly something that is
    happening, and if we do not do anything about it, it will
    certainly imperil future generations.
        And I am just happy to welcome everybody to the Foreign
    Affairs Committee room. Thank you.
        Mr. Keating. I would like to thank the chairman.
        I would just like to recognize myself for 5 minutes for an
    opening statement.
        Our panel represents the next generation of leaders, and so
    naturally, we are speaking to the future. However, let us be
    clear, we are also speaking to the present. We are witnessing
    the effects of climate change daily, whether it is storms,
    forest fires, floods, and other disasters occurring with
    increasing intensity and frequency, increased migration due to
    sea level rise, threats to food and water safety. This is the
    reality we are facing right now because of climate change.
        Regardless of where we live, we all see it when we go home.
    I see it every time I go home. My district is in southeastern
    Massachusetts and has one of the longest coastlines in the
    country and includes island communities. On Cape Cod, we are
    anticipating a sea level rise of 1 to 2 meters by 2100 and 3 to
    12 meters in the next few hundred years. Erosion and storm
    damage cost families and businesses trying to live with more
    than they can afford as every storm approaches, and with each
    storm we are also worried about the cost to lives as well.
        Our historic fishing and lobster industries are threatened
    by increasing ocean acidification and rising ocean
    temperatures. Our State and local governments are under immense
    pressure to address not only sea level rise but air quality
    issues. And in spite of having some of the best scientists and
    researchers right in that area, in UMass and Woods Hole, it is
    an incredible challenge.
        There have been efforts spanning generations now in my
    district to diversify our energy supply, offshore wind, solar
    power that will bring in new jobs, yet there are still major
    gaps in access for our communities and a real struggle to
    overcome the political and bureaucratic obstacles that go with
    making necessary changes to how things are currently.
        There must be leadership in addressing climate change
    because we, and especially your generation, cannot afford for
    things not to change. This is a global issue, and the biggest
    polluters are going to be needed to make big changes to do
    their part.
        But we need to be honest with ourselves as leaders. So far,
    our generation has failed to adequately address our climate
    crisis. This failure is not fatal, yet our failure to change
    will be.
        Change happens through leadership. We would not be in this
    situation right now, our witnesses would be safely and happily
    in school pursuing their dreams and not protesting and pushing
    their government to act if everyone was doing their part.
        America knows how to lead in a crisis, and it is high time
    we pick ourselves up and get back to this fight to bring the
    rest of the world with us, because waiting for other countries
    to do the right thing is making a bad bet on our future.
        There is so much we could and should do right now in our
    country. We have bright minds to engineer solutions to the
    future. America has shaped revolutions in industry time and
    time again, and it has made our country better off every time.
        Now the stakes are so much higher, and in spite of all our
    resources and ingenuity, the one thing we do not have is time.
    The IPCC report warns us that without cuts in carbon emissions,
    the world could see an average sea level rise of 62 centimeters
    over the course of a lifetime of people born today. That is
    over 2 feet. And scientists are gravely concerned that sea
    level rise in the next 100 years could be even faster than in
    the hundreds of years that preceded it.
        I would like to thank our witnesses, extraordinary young
    leaders fortified with scientific research, for being here. It
    is regrettable they have to be. The Paris agreement should have
    been reached decades ago, and we should have been well on our
    way by now toward far more aggressive targets, giving
    communities and industries the time to adapt and giving you a
    much more hopeful outlook on the future.
        But here we are, and I hope your testimony today will
    galvanize us to act now before we are truly out of time.
        Ranking Member Adam Kinzinger for his opening statement.
        Mr. Kinzinger. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Thank you all for being here. We appreciate it.
        Given the high level of interest in this hearing, the late
    start, and the many people that have questions, I will be
    brief.
        Climate change is real, and the best way to combat it is by
    reducing not only our Nation's carbon emission, but that of the
    rest of the world.
        The changes we are seeing in the climate pose both short-
    and long-term challenges, and I believe they can addressed in
    two major ways.
        First, we need diversity in our energy sources. Energy
    diversity is energy security. Similar to one's own personal
    investment strategies, this Nation cannot afford to put all its
    eggs in one basket. If you are looking to invest, you do not
    put all your savings into one stock and let it ride. You
    diversify your investments in mutual funds, bonds, real estate,
    et cetera.
        Second, we need to support market-driven innovations to
    develop new clean energy technologies that will put the United
    States at the forefront of environmental technology.
        Illinois' 16th congressional District is a great example of
    what this market-driven strategy would look like. My district
    is home to four nuclear reactors which serve--actually, it is
    eight reactors, four plants--which serve as the most abundant,
    clean, and stable energy source on the planet, as well as
    hundreds of wind turbines, solar panels, and geothermal
    sources. These diverse sources not only provide year-round
    reliable clean energy, but also have produced high-paying jobs
    for my constituents.
        Around the world, many nations are implementing strategies
    to combat climate change, and nuclear must be part of that
    strategy. Unfortunately, some of our closest allies are taking
    their nuclear reactors offline at a time when we need low
    carbon energy sources.
        Meanwhile, as the West looks at options to combat climate
    change, we all know that China's global emissions continue to
    rise. For every ton of carbon dioxide reduced by the United
    States, China adds nearly four times as much. Today, the
    Chinese account for 30 percent of global emissions.
        While some may say that the United States needs to be the
    leader of combating climate change, I would say that we already
    are. Since 2005, global emissions have increased by 20 percent,
    but the United States' emissions have decreased by more than
    the next 12 emission-reducing countries combined.
        While reducing global emissions is vital, it is also
    important to note that there are over one billion people living
    without access to electricity. That is one billion people
    burning coal and wood for heat, one billion people living with
    increased risk for food-borne pathogens, one billion people
    living without access to basic sources of information like the
    radio.
        From a foreign policy standpoint, this should not be
    overlooked. The next global health crisis or conflict could
    easily come from these communities living in poverty. We must
    encourage other developed nations to reduce emissions while
    understanding that for economies just getting off the ground it
    is not entirely possible, at least not without substantial help
    from the United States and our allies.
        It is going to take major innovation and breakthroughs to
    not only reduce our emissions here at home, but also provide
    clean reliable power to those currently living without it.
        All Americans want to be good stewards of their
    environment. Tesla does not sell cars because of the sound
    system, and people do not put solar panels on their roof
    because they look good. Consumers, especially young people like
    we have today on our panel, want to know that policymakers
    share their values. I believe we do and that we will continue
    to see market-driven solutions that combat climate change and
    provide clean energy to the world.
        With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
        Mr. Keating. I thank the gentleman for his comments.
        The chair now recognizes the chair of the Select Committee
    on the Climate Crisis, Ms. Castor.
        Ms. Castor. Well, thank you, Chairman Keating, for hosting
    this hearing today. Thank you for including the members of the
    House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. We are thrilled
    to be here.
        The youth climate movement has grabbed the attention of the
    world, and it is due to the hard work of many of the students
    in this room and many young people all across the planet.
        Did you all know that Congress' first major hearing on the
    climate crisis was in 1988? Congress has had plenty of
    opportunity to understand that burning fossil fuels warms the
    planet and alters the Earth's climate. Yet, scientists tell us
    that more than half of the carbon pollution that has been
    emitted into the atmosphere has occurred since that hearing in
    1988.
        I have been in Congress since 2007, and we have done some
    good things since then. We have raised auto efficiency
    standards. We have supported the dramatic expansion of wind and
    solar power. We have started to fund the kind of climate
    resilience to protect the places that we know and love. But it
    is not enough, not by a long shot.
        This year, under Speaker Pelosi's leadership, we passed our
    first major piece of climate legislation in 10 years. A
    bipartisan vote sent H.R. 9, Climate Action Now, to the Senate,
    where it awaits action. That Bill takes a commonsense approach
    of keeping the United States in the Paris climate agreement,
    because the U.S., we should not back down, we should not
    surrender, not in the face of the climate crisis. We need to
    take bold action now.
        Seventy percent of young people in America say they worry
    about climate change. I do not blame them. They are doing more
    than paying attention in science class. This generation is the
    most well-informed and connected generation in history, and
    everything they are learning has driven them to a new level of
    engagement.
        And students are asking policymakers a very powerful
    question: What is the point of going to school to learn about
    the climate crisis when your elected officials are not doing
    enough to act on it?
        The climate strike movement has united young people in all
    countries, all across the globe. They are cooperating to demand
    climate action, and they are asking us to cooperate with allies
    to cut carbon pollution and protect our communities.
        It is not lost on us that the United States is responsible
    for the biggest share of carbon pollution accumulated in the
    atmosphere to date, so we have a very serious responsibility to
    lead.
        But we are also the world's greatest engine of innovation,
    and we can do this. We have the solutions. Local communities
    and States have acted boldly, but a strong national climate
    action plan has been missing.
        We have heard from scientists in the select committee
    hearings, as we will hear from these young people today, that
    we must do more and that we do not have time to waste. Our
    answer has to be more than a promise to do better. Our
    solutions must equal the challenge before us.
        And I bet that 10 or 20 years from now, young people
    marching and striking today will be serving in the Congress,
    and we need to take bold action now because we cannot leave it
    up to them to clean up the mess that Congress has made.
        People say this next generation gives us hope, but that is
    not quite right, is it? This generation is giving us a job to
    do. The job is addressing the climate crisis. If we do our job,
    then we will be worthy of their hope because that means we will
    have started to create the future that they are fighting for.
        The select committee has a mandate to come up with an
    action plan for Congress, and we need your ideas. We want the
    ideas to come from all corners of this country and beyond. You
    can go to climatecrisis.house.gov/inforequest and tell us what
    your ideas are to solve the climate crisis. Not all good ideas
    emanate from Washington, DC. I think you know that.
        But it is only through cooperation, through coming together
    in our democracy that we can address the climate crisis. These
    young people are rising to the challenge, and we need to rise
    with them.
        Thank you, and I yield back.
        Mr. Keating. Thank you.
        The chair now recognizes the ranking member of the select
    committee, Mr. Graves.
        Mr. Graves. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        And I want to thank you all for being here today. Most
    importantly, I want to thank you for engaging in your
    government. Most young folks choose to not do that until many
    years later.
        I have three kids, and we often talk about some of the
    impacts that we have seen from climate change and sea rise in
    my home State of Louisiana where some of the sea rise impacts
    have exacerbated the loss of 2,000 square miles of our coast--
    2,000 square miles. To put that in perspective, if that were
    the State of Rhode Island, we would have 49 States today in the
    United States, meaning the size of an entire State would be
    gone.
        I agree that we need to take aggressive action. I agree
    that we need to ensure that we move forward in a sustainable,
    rational manner. But I think it is also important that we
    ensure that we are moving forward based on facts.
        As Mr. Kinzinger said a few minutes ago, contrary to
    popular belief, the United States--the United States--is the
    country that has led the world in greenhouse gas reductions. As
    stated, we have reduced greenhouse gases more than the next 12
    countries combined. We have reduced them more than the next 12
    countries combined.
        Just last year, we stepped in and made more progress on
    adaptation and mitigation strategies than I believe any other
    year in this Nation's history, committing more dollars, moving
    toward establishing a resiliency standard, ensuring as we are
    rebuilding after disasters that we are building to a newer,
    higher standard, truly thinking about the future, ensuring that
    we are putting record dollars toward proactive efforts to
    ensure that our coastal communities and our river-based
    communities can be resilient, and continuing to move in this
    direction of greenhouse gas reductions.
        But I also think that we have got to stop this
    ridiculousness of operating myopically or operating as though
    the United States is in a vacuum. It is important to keep in
    mind that the Energy Information Administration projects that
    by 2030, 80 percent of global energy demands--80 percent--are
    going to be addressed using fossil fuels. This is the Energy
    Information Administration, not some type of partisan hack
    group. Eighty percent.
        Yet, just last week we had three bills designed to stop
    energy production in the United States. Over the weekend, we
    had attacks in Saudi Arabia. All that does is increase our
    reliance upon energy sources from other countries that have a
    lower safety standard and have a lower environmental standard.
        Records show, it is crystal clear, that when we import
    energy from other places, we actually increase the risk to the
    environment, increase the risk of spills, than when we have
    domestic energy production.
        I hear people talking about how we need to stop all fossil
    fuel utilization and stop all these emissions. Right now, as
    was stated, for every one ton of carbon emissions we produce in
    the United States, China has increased by four tons, more than
    offsetting all the reductions that we have had in the United
    States.
        Moving forward, even under the Paris Accords that folks are
    sitting here giving accolades to and saying is a great idea--
    and I want to be clear, I support the U.S.' target in the Paris
    Accord--I think that signing onto an agreement and agreeing to
    something that allows for China to come in and have a 50
    percent increase, adding another 5 gigatons of greenhouse gas
    emissions annually by 2030, is inappropriate. It is moving in
    the wrong direction, not in the right direction.
        I also remain confounded reading letters like this one that
    says that we need to pressure the Organization of Petroleum
    Exporting Countries and cooperating countries to increase world
    oil supplies in order to lower prices at the pump. The impact
    of rising fuel prices on our economy and on family budgets is
    significant and widespread.
        This letter goes on to say the current run-up in world oil
    prices is effectively a tax on all American families'
    discretionary budget, except that the money goes to OPEC as
    opposed to the United States Treasury.
        So let me say again, this letter is advocating for
    increased world oil production because prices are too high. Who
    do you think signed this letter? Who do you think signed this
    letter? Think about it just a minute. Put a name in your head.
    This letter was sent by Senator Cantwell, Senator Menendez,
    Senator Chuck Schumer, and Senator Ed Markey just last year.
        I remain so confused by what it is that we are doing. What
    is our policy?
        And, Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that this be
    included in the record.
        Mr. Keating. Any objection?
        [The information referred to follows:]

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Mr. Graves. Look, my home State is at risk of its existence
    moving forward with sea rise, but we have got to make sure that
    we are moving forward in a rational manner that builds on
    successes and corrects failures rather than these confounding
    policies that make no sense.
        Yield back.
        Mr. Keating. Thank you.
        I will now introduce our witnesses.
        Greta Thunberg is from Sweden. She is a climate activist
    who helped build the Fridays for Future movement, where she
    began going on strike from school outside the Swedish
    Parliament on Fridays. She has spoken on the climate crisis
    before the EU Parliament.
        Welcome.
        Ms. Jamie Margolin is from Seattle, Washington. She is co-
    founder and co-executive director of the Zero Hour, an
    international youth climate organization, founded in the summer
    of 2017. She is also a plaintiff in Piper v. State of
    Washington.
        Mr. Vic Barrett is from White Plains, New York. He is a
    fellow with the Alliance for Climate Education and a plaintiff
    in Juliana v. United States.
        Welcome.
        Mr. Benji Backer is from Appleton, Wisconsin. He is the
    president of the American Conservation Coalition, a nonprofit
    organization to educate and engage conservatives on climate
    change.
        All of you are here. We welcome all of you. We appreciate
    your efforts. Please limit your testimony to 5 minutes. And
    without objection, your prepared written statements will be
    made part of the record.
        I will now go to Ms. Thunberg for her statement.

        STATEMENT OF GRETA THUNBERG, FOUNDER, FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE

        Ms. Thunberg. My name is Greta Thunberg. I have not come to
    offer any prepared remarks at this hearing. I am instead
    attaching my testimony. It is the IPCC Special Report on Global
    Warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius, the SR 1.5, which was released
    on October 8th, 2018.
        I am submitting this report as my testimony because I do
    not want you to listen to me. I want you to listen to the
    scientists, and I want you to unite behind science, and then I
    want you to take real action.
        Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Thunberg follows:]

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Mr. Keating. Tack sa mycket.
        Ms. Margolin.

      STATEMENT OF JAMIE MARGOLIN, CO-FOUNDER, THIS IS ZERO HOUR,
                PLAINTIFF, PIPER V. STATE OF WASHINGTON

        Ms. Margolin. My name is Jamie Margolin, and I am a 17-
    year-old climate justice activist from Seattle, Washington. I
    am missing a lot of school to be here. It is my senior year of
    high school. I have college applications deadlines looming over
    me, and to be honest, I have barely even started because I am
    too busy fighting to make sure that I am actually going to have
    the future I am applying to study for.
        You are here spending a few moments with me. But that is
    nothing compared to the hours that Members of Congress have
    spent with lobbyists from corporations that make billions of
    dollars off of the destruction of my generation's future.
        I want the entirety of Congress, in fact, the whole U.S.
    Government, to remember the fear and despair that my generation
    lives with every day, and I want you to hold on to it.
        How do I even begin to convey to you what it feels like to
    know that within my lifetime the destruction that we have
    already seen from the climate crisis will only get worse?
        What adds insult to injury is the fact that we keep getting
    promised what is not there. On college applications, I keep
    getting asked: What do you want to be when you grow up? The
    media, pop culture, businesses, and the whole world tells me
    that I and my whole generation will have something to look
    forward to that we just do not.
        You are promising me lies. Everyone who will walk up to me
    after this testimony saying that I have such a bright future
    ahead of me will be lying to my face.
        It does not matter how talented we are. It does not matter
    how much work we put in, how many dreams we have. The reality
    is my generation has been committed to a planet that is
    collapsing.
        The fact that you are staring at a panel of young people
    testifying before you today pleading for a livable Earth should
    not fill you with pride. It should fill you with shame. Youth
    climate activism should not have to exist.
        We are exhausted because we have tried everything. We have
    built organizations, organized marches, and worked on political
    campaigns. I sued my State government in a lawsuit called Piper
    v. The State of Washington, along with 12 other plaintiffs, for
    contributing to the climate crisis and denying my generation's
    constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property.
        The lawsuit is also arguing that the natural resources of
    my State are protected as a right under the Washington State
    Constitution. The shellfish, salmon, orcas, and all of the
    beautiful wildlife of my Pacific Northwest home is dying due to
    ocean acidification caused by the climate crisis. And
    communities all over Seattle are suffering from the new fossil
    fuel infrastructure being built to lock in decades more of
    climate destruction into my State.
        My friends and I were warned to stay inside the last two
    summers because our city was shrouded in a suffocating smoke
    from wildfires that gave me such bad headaches for so long, and
    my friends with respiratory illnesses had to go to the ER.
        Is this the future that we have to look forward to? Well,
    we youth are working as hard as we can to make sure that it is
    not.
        On July 21 of 2018, after an entire year of nonstop
    organizing, despite being full-time high school students with a
    lot of homework to do, my organization, Zero Hour, marched on
    Washington, DC, in a pouring rainstorm and in 25 cities around
    the world demanding urgent climate action from you and all of
    our leaders. And that was only the beginning.
        By 2030, we will know if we have created the political
    climate that will have allowed us to salvage life on Earth or
    if we acted too late. By then, we must be well on the path to
    climate recovery.
        But this must start today. In fact, it should have started
    yesterday.
        By 2030, I will be old enough to run for Congress and be
    seated right where you guys are sitting right now. By then, we
    need to have already achieved net zero greenhouse gas emissions
    and be rapidly on the path to climate recovery.
        I cannot wait until I am sitting in your seats to change
    the climate crisis. You have to use the seats that you have now
    because by the time I get there, it is going to be way too
    late.
        The good news is that experts agree that there are multiple
    pathways to decarbonize the United States energy system and
    that doing so is both technologically and economically viable
    and beneficial.
        The most frustrating thing is that the U.S. Government
    cannot even begin to imagine the massive political shift that
    has to happen in order for us to solve this issue. The politics
    just has not been invented yet.
        Solving the climate crisis goes against everything that our
    Country was, unfortunately, built on, colonialism, slavery, and
    natural resource extraction. This is why the youth are calling
    for a new era altogether.
        As Greta mentioned, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
    Change report that we only have a few months left in order to
    create the massive political shift needed to transition our
    world to an entirely renewable energy economy. This needs to
    happen within the next 10 years, which is our deadline to save
    life as we know it.
        People call my generation Generation Z as if we are the
    last generation. But we are not. We are refusing to be the last
    letter in the alphabet. I am here before the whole country
    today announcing that we are instead Generation GND, the
    Generation of the Green New Deal.
        The only thing that will save us is a whole new era. The
    Green New Deal is not just about the specific plans laid out in
    resolutions, it is about a new chapter in American history and
    transforming our culture into one that celebrates, encourages,
    and enables radical climate action.
        It is right here testifying before you that I am proud to
    announce that history is being made. You have heard of the
    Reagan era, the New Deal era. Well, the youth are bringing
    about the era of the Green New Deal.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Margolin follows:]

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        Mr. Keating. Thank you.
        Mr. Barrett.

        STATEMENT OF VIC BARRETT, FELLOW, ALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE
             EDUCATION, PLAINTIFF, JULIANA V. UNITED STATES

        Mr. Barrett. My name is Vic Barrett. I am 20 years old. And
    I am one of the 21 youth plaintiffs in the Juliana v. United
    States constitutional lawsuit, suing the executive branch of
    the Federal Government for knowingly causing climate change. I
    would like to recognize my fellow co-plaintiffs in this room
    sitting behind me.
        I am a first-generation Garifuna American. My people are an
    afro-indigenous community originally from the island of St.
    Vincent in the Caribbean. In the 18th and 19th centuries, we
    were pushed from our homeland on St. Vincent by British
    colonial power, settling on the eastern coast of Central
    America in Honduras and Belize. Despite overwhelming adversity,
    we organized our community and emancipated ourselves to protect
    our future as a people.
        However, the struggle continues for me and my people. As
    temperatures increase, sea levels rise, storms become more
    intense and frequent, and the coral reefs and fisheries upon
    which we depend disappear, the ocean-front land that my family
    has inhabited for generations, that I am supposed to inherit,
    will be under water if the U.S. Federal Government continues to
    promote a fossil fuel-based energy system.
        It is not just me and my people in Honduras being harmed by
    climate change. Frontline communities around the country and
    around the world are already feeling the effects of the climate
    crisis from the dispossession of land to the grave public
    health threats that are disproportionately affecting myself and
    other young people.
        These frontline communities are made up of people who look
    like me--young, black and brown, LGBTQ, indigenous--identities
    which place them at a significantly higher risk to experience
    the impacts of climate change than the general populace due to
    their marginalized status in our society.
        I, myself, have felt the consequences of climate change
    directly. Growing up in New York, I was impacted by the climate
    change-fueled Hurricane Sandy which left my family and school
    without power for days. I still experience grave anxiety about
    experiencing another climate-driven disaster like Superstorm
    Sandy and the harm that these storms will have on myself and my
    family.
        As someone who already struggles with anxiety and struggles
    with depression from my understanding of climate change and
    what I experience, watching our government knowingly perpetuate
    the climate crisis is extremely overwhelming. I wrestle with
    this anxiety every day from the moment that I wake up in the
    morning to the moment I fall asleep at night.
        If we keep going on with business as usual, both Honduras
    and New York, the places where my family and I are from, will
    forever be lost to the sea. That is one of my greatest fears,
    that climate change is going to take these places away from us.
        My co-plaintiffs also experience both the mental and
    physical health impacts of climate change. My co-plaintiffs
    with asthma and allergies have suffered from the prolonged
    wildfire and allergy seasons in the West, limiting their
    ability to participate in certain activities or even go
    outside. Many of them, like me, are also struggling with
    psychological harms from climate change.
        The medical community now recognizes climate change as a
    grave public health threat. One of our experts describes
    climate change as a public health emergency which is
    disproportionately impacting children and youth in a myriad of
    ways. He lists specific health threats exacerbated by climate
    change, including heat stress, extreme weather events,
    wildfires, decreased air quality, and infectious disease, all
    of which pose a disproportionate threat to children and youth.
        Another one of our experts, Dr. Lise Van Susteren, a
    psychiatrist known nationally for her work on climate change,
    explains that, quote, ``With continued government actions that
    exacerbate the climate crisis, the plaintiffs and those they
    represent will suffer catastrophic emotional injuries.'' She
    goes on to state that the Federal Government's, quote,
    ``sanctioning of climate change as lawful in Federal law and
    policymakes the psychological injuries suffered by individuals,
    including the plaintiffs, particularly harmful and insidious.''
    She warns that without immediate action by the Federal
    Government to address climate change the mental health impacts
    will worsen and be lifelong.
        Just as my Federal Government sanctioned discrimination in
    schools and housing until the middle of the last century, a
    policy that harmed children, my Federal Government has also
    orchestrated and sanctioned a system of fossil fuel energy that
    is harming children in another way, irreversibly threatening
    our health, our personal security, our homes, and our
    communities by creating a dangerous climate system.
        Like youth who have come before us in the civil rights
    movement and other social justice movements, it is often the
    youth that must shine a light on systems of injustice. So in
    2015, 21 young people, myself included, filed a lawsuit against
    the United States and agencies of the executive branch to
    safeguard our constitutional right to life, liberty and
    property, including our rights to personal security, bodily
    integrity, and a stable climate system that sustains our lives
    and liberties.
        I was born into a world in which my future and my past are
    uncertain, born into a world where my culture and inheritance
    are literally slipping into the sea, born into a world where my
    people are going extinct.
        Show children everywhere that you care about our future and
    the future of all generations to come. Now is your time to
    stand in solidarity with me and my co-plaintiffs, America's
    youth, and communities around the world to fight for a just
    future, free from catastrophic climate change.
        Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Barrett follows:]

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        Mr. Keating. Thank you.
        Mr. Backer.

      STATEMENT OF BENJI BACKER, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN CONSERVATION
                               COALITION

        Mr. Backer. Good morning. My name is Benji Backer,
    president and founder of the American Conservation Coalition, a
    nonprofit focused on bolstering conservative voices in
    environmental discussions.
        I am also a 21-year old senior at the University of
    Washington in Seattle, and I would like to thank Chairman
    Keating, Ranking Member Kinzinger, Chairman Castor, and Ranking
    Member Graves for holding this very important hearing.
        I am also honored to share this panel with Greta, Vic, and
    Jamie.
        Each of you have played a critical role in generating
    worldwide awareness around this issue of climate change. So
    thank you.
        I am a lifelong conservative activist, but like most of my
    generation, regardless of political affiliation, I believe
    climate change is real. I believe humans are making an impact.
    And with global emissions rising 1.7 percent last year, we are
    at a crossroads in history.
        My generation does not care about the politics around
    climate change. We want productive discussions, realistic
    answers, and sound policies.
        Most importantly, I believe America plays a vital role in
    solving this problem and that we must lead by example. Between
    2005 and 2017, as already mentioned, we led the world in
    emissions reductions, more than the next 12 countries combined.
    However, while our contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is
    declining, we still contribute nearly 15 percent of global
    greenhouse gas emissions, which is second most in the world.
        However, Americans have been told that one-size-fits-all
    approaches, such as the Green New Deal, are the only solution.
    Such policies advocate for an economic transformation that
    increases government control, spending, and regulation. These
    approaches inhibit innovation and are not an effective way to
    reduce emissions.
        In fact, countries with highly restrictive and government-
    controlled economies, like Venezuela, have disastrous
    environmental records, and while on the other hand, countries
    leading in emissions reductions have some of the freest
    economic systems in the world.
        We cannot ignore this reality, and the fact of the matter
    is we cannot regulate our way out of climate change. Markets
    and competition reduce emissions far more than heavy-handed
    regulation.
        A truly effective climate plan will capitalize on America's
    strengths: technological advancements, empowered consumers,
    entrepreneurial businesses, effective government, and bold
    global leadership. We need to decarbonize fossil fuel
    emissions, increase the number of nuclear and hydropower
    plants, continue developing solar and wind, and encourage
    research and development into other clean energy technologies.
        It is easier to export innovative American technologies
    than burdensome regulations to developing nations.
        We must also understand the privilege Americans bring into
    this conversation. Across the globe, those who can most easily
    adapt to climate change are wealthy and live in developed
    countries. It is unfair to ask someone to make choices based on
    sustainability when they are struggling to survive.
        As we transition to cleaner energy landscapes in the United
    States and abroad, we need to consider the most vulnerable in
    our world. There are still over one billion people without
    electricity worldwide. Transitioning to clean energy needs to
    happen, but it cannot happen overnight.
        Climate change conversations are often dominated by
    hopelessness and despair. In reality, fighting climate change
    is an opportunity to improve human health, lift people up, and
    grow the economy.
        And I see promising signs. Many bipartisan climate-related
    bills have been introduced and passed in the last 2 years. We
    are reducing emissions and creating remarkable new
    technologies. More Republicans are speaking up than ever
    before.
        This innovation-based approach is not limited to the United
    States either. Just yesterday, the British Conservation
    Alliance, a group inspired by my organization, the ACC, was
    launched by students in the United Kingdom to advocate for
    market-based environmental reforms. We are making strides in
    the right direction, but we must do more.
        Each of us play a critical role in tackling climate change.
        To my fellow conservatives: The climate is changing. It is
    time to claim our seat at the table and develop smart, limited
    government policies to establish American leadership on this
    issue. There is a reasonable conservative approach to climate
    change, and we need to embrace it.
        To those on the left: Without your leadership, this would
    not be receiving the attention that it deserves. But now it is
    time for solutions. Politicizing climate change has deepened
    the partisan divide and delayed real action. If you truly want
    to address climate change, work with conservatives who want to
    champion reforms.
        To Congress: On climate change, it is not about Republicans
    or Democrats. It is about those who are taking effective action
    and those who are not. Our conversations on climate change
    should be about cutting global greenhouse gas emissions, not
    about political pandering.
        To President Trump: Climate science is real. It is not a
    hoax. It is accepted that humans are having a negative impact
    on our climate. As a proud American, as a lifelong
    conservative, and as a young person, I urge you to accept
    climate change for the reality it is and respond accordingly.
    We need your leadership.
        And last, to young people: You have remarkable power. The
    four of us testifying up here today are all under the age of
    22. The world is listening with open ears and hearts to our
    voices and voices just like yours. Stand for what you believe
    in, uplift the world, and do not back down. Climate change is
    about our future, and people need to hear you and us.
        In conclusion, I grew up on the shores of Lake Minocqua in
    northern Wisconsin where I connected with the outdoors early in
    life. Nature is where I find the most peace and calm within
    myself. That is why I founded the American Conservation
    Coalition, to fight for wild places and stop climate change
    from destroying them.
        The health of the environment affects all of us, regardless
    of where we live, our background, or our political affiliation.
    It is time for Americans to join together, find solutions on
    climate change, and protect our planet for generations to come.
        Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Backer follows:]

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Mr. Keating. I thank all the witnesses for their testimony,
    and their urgency came through in all of your testimony.
        And I now recognize myself for less than 5 minutes so that
    we can get as many people to ask questions as possible. I will
    start just with Ms. Thunberg.
        You chose to submit the IPCC report in lieu of your written
    testimony. Could you expand on why it is so important to listen
    to the science?
        Ms. Thunberg. Well, I do not see a reason to not listen to
    the science. It is just such a thing that we should be taking
    for granted that we listen to the current best available united
    science. It is just something that everyone should do. This is
    not political opinions, political views, or my opinions, this
    is the science. So, yes.
        Mr. Keating. Thank you.
        In all of your testimony, not just urgency came through
    when I was listening to what you had to say, but as someone
    from another generation listening, the last thing we would want
    for the generations to follow, for our children, grandchildren,
    and other people's children and grandchildren, is to hear in
    some of your remarks actual fear and anxiety being expressed.
        Could you, each of you, you can jump right in as you see
    fit, comment on what that is like? I think that that message
    should be heard by all of us, not just urgency, but what are we
    doing to the next generation? How are their lives impacted by
    what we are not doing and what we are doing?
        So if you could, I will let you just choose among
    yourselves. Each of you will have a chance to answer that
    question.
        Ms. Margolin. For me, it has really been affecting because,
    similar to Vic, I already have, underlying issues of, anxiety,
    and it is just really hard to grow up in a world full of
    ``ifs.''
        You know, I do not think a lot of people in Congress
    understand the conversations that are happening in everyday
    American high schools, but we are constantly asked: Prepare for
    your future, study for your future, do this for your future.
    But our world is full of ``ifs.''
        I will be talking to my best friend, and she will say,
    ``Yes, you know, I really want to see this natural place
    sometime if it is going to still be around. I really want to
    study to be this if that is still going to be a possibility.''
        And it is just, this constant looming uncertainty. And it
    is a weird form of nihilism and weird just fear that has been
    existing in my generation where kids are joking, what is even,
    is the point? The world is ending. What are we studying for?
    What are we doing?
        And it is this kind of depression, it is this fear that is
    not just among me or my panelists here but everyone, and that
    anxiety is something that no child should ever have to fear.
        Because if you think about it, if you go back to what is
    the purpose of a parent down to just the biological purpose, it
    is to give their child the best future and the best life that
    they can possibly have and the supposed American Dream is to
    make sure that children have a better future than the adults.
        But right now, it is, some members of government and some
    corporations are actively pointing a gun to children's futures
    and actively making it worse, actively going out of their way
    to support corporations and poison us and destroy our future.
        And that is horrifying, and it feels like a betrayal, it is
    like a knife to the heart, to know that people who have kids,
    they will go around in these campaign ads and they will be,
    holding these babies, ``Oh, you should vote for me, look at me
    interacting with a small child,'' while they actively poison
    and choose their wallets over their children.
        So it is very devastating and scary, but also it feels like
    we have been betrayed.
        Mr. Keating. In less than a minute, would anyone else like
    to comment on that?
        Mr. Barrett. Young people are in the midst of their
    development. Adolescence is not characterized as being easy
    without also dealing with the greatest existential threat of
    our time.
        Mr. Backer. I definitely understand and agree with the
    panelists that this is something that a lot of young people
    stress about, and actually that is why I got into this movement
    to begin with in 2016. It was because I thought that it was
    something that Americans needed to tackle and the movement that
    I associated with, the conservative movement, needed to tackle
    as well.
        But the more that I have gotten into this movement, the
    climate change movement, the more that I have seen that this is
    actually a positive, that there is actually a lot of
    opportunity here, that we have time. Science says so.
        That does not mean we do not have to act, but we do have
    time. And we have an opportunity and a chance for people to
    come together on this issue and work across party lines and
    generate economic growth to solve this issue. So I feel
    hopeful.
        Mr. Keating. Great.
        I now yield to the ranking member, Mr. Graves.
        Mr. Graves. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        And I want to thank you all for your testimony, all of you.
    It really was impressive, and I very much appreciate it.
        Ms. Thunberg, you said let's unite behind the science.
    Could not agree with you more. Let's unite behind the science.
    And I think we actually need more science, not less.
        Mr. Backer, you said that we need to stop this partisan
    fighting and actually work together to yield solutions that
    make sense.
        So let me say it again. You have folks that proposed this
    Green New Deal, yet when it is brought up for a vote, nobody
    votes for it. No one.
        You have efforts like last week to stop energy production,
    yet you have letters going out saying, hey, we want you to
    produce more oil in Middle Eastern countries and other nations
    that do not share American values and that have dirtier energy,
    that have higher emissions than in the United States.
        This whole thing is a charade.
        When you actually look at science, Ms. Thunberg, when you
    look at facts, the facts are it was not Waxman-Markey
    legislation here that was designed to require emissions
    reduction that yielded the United States leading the world in
    emissions reduction. It was actually folks doing the right
    thing, stepping in and actually reducing emissions through
    innovation, through energy efficiency, through conservation, to
    where we are leading the world. And in fact, we have beat the
    projections under Waxman-Markey, the mandatory legislation, and
    we have done it with cheaper energy prices. Those are the
    facts.
        Next, going to Mr. Backer. When you look at where we have
    actually made progress, once again, talking about last year,
    worked together, Mr. Sires and I and others on the
    Transportation Committee, where we developed the first
    resiliency standard, bipartisan unanimous bill passed out of
    the committee, where we dedicated record funding to resiliency
    and mitigation.
        And in the United States today, we are spending more
    climate science, technology, and energy solutions than anywhere
    else in the world.
        Those things have been done in a bipartisan manner and are
    actually yielding results, not the charades. These things are
    not yielding anything.
        Ms. Thunberg, let me ask you a question. If you are sailing
    across the ocean and you are picking up trash along the way,
    and every one piece of trash that you pick up there is a boat
    right next to you dumping out five pieces, how would that make
    you feel?
        Ms. Thunberg. First of all, we were going so fast, we would
    not be able to pick up any trash.
        Mr. Graves. All right. Well, if you were a slow sailor like
    me, how would that make you feel?
        Ms. Thunberg. Well, first of all, if you use that logic,
    then I am also dumping a lot of trash in the ocean. And then I
    would stop dumping my trash in the ocean and tell the other
    boat to stop dumping their trash in the ocean as well.
        Mr. Graves. And that is the important point here. I think
    that what we need to be doing is we need to be focusing on the
    countries that are dumping trash in the ocean. Of course, that
    is a metaphor.
        The fact that China is--here we are talking about reducing
    emissions, yet China, under the Paris Accords, are going to be
    increasing their emissions by nearly 50 percent, 5 gigatons
    annually.
        So while in the United States we need to continue investing
    in innovative solutions and exporting clean energy
    technologies, it makes no sense for us to be doing it if we are
    simply watching for increases in China.
        Mr. Backer, the IPCC report talks about numerous solutions
    moving forward, including clean energy and others. Under IPCC,
    does it contemplate only renewable energy sources moving
    forward?
        Mr. Backer. Thank you.
        It actually does not, and I think that it shows a strong
    trend that we need to generate more clean energy going into the
    future, there is no doubt about that, and reduce emissions via
    clean energy technologies. But there is no statement in the
    IPCC report that says that we need to go 100 percent clean to
    reduce emissions at the level that we need to to fix this
    problem.
        Mr. Graves. So moving on from there, if moving forward,
    even under IPCC, it does not contemplate not using any
    conventional fuels moving forward, for the next few decades
    anyway.
        Do you think it makes sense to utilize the fuels from the
    Nation that has the cleanest energy? Or do you think that it
    makes more sense to, for example, use Russian gas that releases
    13 percent greater emissions as we move forward? Which makes
    more sense? Or do you think it makes sense to perhaps get fuels
    from Nigeria that just a few years ago had 2,000 ongoing
    spills?
        Mr. Backer. I think it is important for Americans to
    understand that we do generate fossil fuels cleaner than
    anywhere else in the world. And while the rest of the world
    still relies on fossil fuels, that is an important thing to
    note, I do think while we continue to generate power for the
    rest of the globe and uplift people, we as a Country also start
    transitioning more and more to clean technologies, which I
    think we are starting to do.
        But I do believe that making sure that the rest of the
    world is generating fossil fuels safely is important because it
    is going to be a part of our future, especially today. And the
    United States does do it cleaner than anywhere else in the
    world. That is a fact, and it is something that we have to
    think about.
        Mr. Graves. Thank you. I yield back.
        Mr. Keating. All right.
        Chairwoman Castor.
        Ms. Castor. Mr. Becker, in your testimony you point out
    that the United States must lead by example. And despite recent
    emissions reductions, the United States is currently the second
    highest emitting country in the world annually. And although we
    rank No. 2 now, the United States is responsible for the most
    carbon pollution accumulated in the atmosphere.
        Some people say that the United States should not
    dramatically reduce our emissions because China and other
    countries are not doing enough. I would like to have your view
    on that and have each of the witnesses comment on that briefly.
        Mr. Backer. Yes. I think that is a false approach because
    we have never in history looked at a problem that we contribute
    in the United States and said, well, if it is happening
    somewhere else, then we should not fix it. So I do not think
    that that is a reasonable excuse.
        But I also do think it is important to note that other
    countries are emitting and that we must hold them accountable
    as we hold ourselves accountable.
        America has led on lots of initiatives in the past. You
    have people in Hong Kong waving their flags and singing the
    American National Anthem right now because we inspire them. We
    can do the same thing on climate change.
        Mr. Barrett. Yes. I would say what you said is totally
    correct. The United States contributes to 25 percent of
    historic emissions in the world. And if we are the country that
    we say we are, if we are the leaders that we say we are, we
    need to lead by example here and work on what we are doing here
    so that the rest of the world can follow our lead.
        Ms. Margolin. I have a question. When your children ask
    you, ``Did you do absolutely everything in your power to stop
    the climate crisis, when the storms are getting worse and we
    are seeing all of the effects of the climate crisis?'' when
    they ask you, ``Did you do everything?'' can you really look
    them in the eye and say, ``No, sorry, I could not do anything
    because that country over there did not do anything, so if they
    are not going to do it, then I am not''?
        That is shameful, and that is cowardly, and there is no
    excuse to not take action, to not improve as much as we can in
    the United States.
        And how can we call ourselves the city on a hill or be an
    example for the world if we are going to be coward and hide
    behind waiting for other people, saying that, ``I am not going
    to do this because they did not''?
        I want you to think about this is all about being able to
    look your children in the eye and say, ``I did absolutely
    everything I could for you. I know that we are up against a lot
    of pressure. I know that the time is running out, but, honey,''
    however you call your kids, ``I did everything I could.''
        And so I just do not understand as a parent how can you
    look your kid in the eye and say, ``There is this impending
    crisis, everything is at stake, but I stood back and I did not
    really do anything. I did not take action. I did not act like
    it was an emergency because our neighbors over there weren't
    doing it, so I am just not going to.'' How can you tell your
    children that?
        Ms. Thunberg. I just--I think I do not need to add anything
    but just another perspective. I am from Sweden, a small
    country, and there it is the same argument: Why should we do
    anything? Just look at the U.S., they say.
        So, just so you know, that is being used against you as
    well.
        Mr. Keating. The chair recognizes Representative Miller.
        Mrs. Miller. Thank you to Chairman Castor and Ranking
    Member Graves as well as to our Foreign Affairs counterparts,
    Chairman Keating and Ranking Member Kinzinger, for hosting us
    today, and I want to say a very special thank you to all of you
    for being here today and for caring so much about our Earth.
    Throughout our work on this committee, I have long said that
    any recommendations that the Select Committee on the Climate
    Crisis makes must ensure that we provide for innovation and not
    taxation. Solutions should work to reduce our carbon footprint
    but not come at the detriment of increased cost for consumers.
        Mr. Backer, I want to thank you for your leadership and
    your candor. We all must do whatever we can and do our part to
    take care of our beautiful world. In your testimony, you
    discussed how we cannot regulate our way out of climate change.
    What are some of the ways that we can better utilize technology
    and increase innovation?
        Mr. Backer. Thank you. If we really want to focus on
    reducing emissions, which I think we all agree is the end goal
    that we are talking about here today, it needs to be about the
    results, and the results can come from innovation like you are
    alluding to. If you look at the technologies that we can have
    around carbon capture, taking carbon emissions out of the air
    from fossil-fuel-emitting plants and being able to put that
    into the Earth or reuse it for another type of product or you
    look at the shifts in the transportation sector to transition
    to cleaner cars and cleaner technologies, that is the example
    of things that we can do across the globe and continue
    innovating because innovation, like I mentioned in my
    testimony, is something that we can export to other countries
    very, very easily because it creates jobs, it is more
    efficient, and it ends up helping the economy. A great example
    of this is 194 of the world's largest companies have pledged to
    go 100 percent renewable by 2030, 2040, or even sooner than
    that. They are doing that because it is more cheap, it is more
    efficient, and it helps their consumers. It has done that
    because of innovation. And if we put regulations on different
    industries, we are not going to be solving the problem. We need
    to work on decarbonizing fossil fuel and reducing emissions
    now, and we cannot do that with regulation. We can only do that
    through innovation. We need to innovate our way out of the
    climate change problem.
        Mrs. Miller. Thank you.
        I yield back my time.
        Mr. Keating. Vice Chairwoman Spanberger.
        Ms. Spanberger. Thank you very much. Thank you all for
    being here. I hold your commitment to fighting for the future
    generations of this planet in the highest esteem, and I am
    grateful for the attention you are bringing to these critical
    issues throughout your advocacy. Ms. Thunberg, in your speech
    to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres on climate change,
    you said, we are facing an existential threat, and I agree.
        The scientific consensus is clear, climate change is real.
    Its affects, including changes to rainfall and farmers' growing
    seasons, sea-level rise along our coasts, and exacerbation of
    conflicts abroad are a threat to us all. In fact, our
    intelligence community and two former Secretaries of Defense
    have cited climate change as a root cause and driver of
    instability and global threats, making it not just a moral
    imperative, but a national security imperative as well. I am
    curious, in your travels as an activist and as an advocate,
    have you heard stories, or have you engaged with those who are
    focused on the issues of how climate change and the instability
    it causes internationally are impacting security issues and how
    those might impact our future generations?
        Ms. Thunberg. I have, of course, met many people who have
    experienced environmental and climate-related disasters and who
    try to help people to come back from that, and I have not been
    meeting so much with people who have told me stories about it
    being a national security threat because I simply have not had
    enough time to do that. There are so many people to meet and so
    many stories to hear, so I cannot listen to them all. But I
    imagine maybe one of the others have.
        It does not seem like they have either. So maybe then you
    should talk to someone who is an expert in that area.
        Ms. Spanberger. And you mentioned, apart from the security
    aspect of things, that you have spoken with many who have faced
    disasters at home due to global climate change. Could you,
    perhaps, give a couple of examples just for the committee to
    hear, of the stories you have heard?
        Ms. Thunberg. Yes. I have met people whose communities were
    simply--whose neighborhoods were destroyed by natural
    disasters, who were amplified by the climate crisis. I have met
    people whose food and water supply is being threatened by
    environmental or climate-related catastrophes. And it is just--
    it is so sad that I--it is so incredibly many people, so
    incredibly many examples, that it is just horrible because so
    many who have experienced this and so many who are suffering
    from this today. And, I mean, we are already seeing the
    consequence--unacceptable consequences of this today, and it
    will only get worse the longer we delay action, unless we start
    to act now.
        Ms. Spanberger. Thank you very much.
        Ms. Margolin. I would also look like to add, answering that
    question, I would like to acknowledge that we have some Amazon
    protectors in the room right now, who are fighting to protect
    the Amazon rainforest, and that is a place in the world where
    people are gravely suffering, not exactly from climate change
    itself, but from the causes of the climate crisis. The animal
    agriculture industry is behind--and the collusion of the animal
    agriculture industry with the governments of Brazil and other
    countries that would rather make a short-term profit than
    protect the lungs of our planet. The Amazon rainforest is the
    lungs of our planet, and that is why we are seeing these
    massive fires, and it is indigenous protectors like the ones
    here sitting, who have been fighting, literally putting their
    bodies on the line and suffering from these fires, and I want
    to speak for them, because I do not know their own stories, but
    I encourage you, talk to them later.
        But I think it is also very important that, as we speak
    from an American perspective, we also realize that the climate
    crisis is global and that, even though maybe--you know, for me
    personally, I have Latin American roots in that my family is
    from Colombia, but even if you do not have those roots in Latin
    America, the Amazon rainforest is the lungs of our planet. And
    so it burning down, we must unite with Latin America, and we
    must unite with the indigenous activists and listen to them and
    give them a platform. And also not perpetuate the same systems
    of oppression that have been pushing them down because it is--
    and I do not want to speak for this, and I do not know if you
    have anything to add, but it is the same systems of oppression
    that are causing the climate crisis that are making people feel
    the worst effects.
        To add to something that I heard earlier, I just want to
    say real quick--I realize my time is running out--but Albert
    Einstein defined insanity as trying to solve an issue with the
    same thinking that caused it. And right now something that has
    been disturbing me a lot is seeing the way that we are trying
    to colonize and buy and sell our way out of a problem caused by
    colonization and buying and selling.
        Ms. Spanberger. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        I am over time. I yield back.
        Mr. Keating. Representative Burchett.
        Mr. Burchett. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        I really do not have any prepared notes. I was sitting
    there just thinking, in 1977, I was confronted with a problem.
    I was--my father used to grow tomatoes--oh, Mr. Chairman, I
    appreciate you and the vice chairman and everybody for allowing
    us to be here. I meant to do the protocol first, I apologize,
    but--and I was--my father used to grow these tomatoes. He would
    get about a half a dozen tomatoes, and he would put about $20
    in chemicals and all kinds of nasty stuff. And I thought to
    myself, you know, I am putting that stuff in my body. And I
    thought, there has got to be a better solution, and I stopped
    a--it is called KUB, Knoxville Utility Board. They used to cut
    all the trees that were growing on the power lines, and they
    would grind them up, usually about 6 o'clock in the morning and
    wake us all up. And I stopped and asked one of those guys one
    time, I said: Hey, what do you you all do with that stuff?
        And they said: Well, we take--you got to realize this is
    1977, OK? I was in--I was in between my seventh and eighth
    grade years. And he said: We take it to the landfill.
        And I said: Well, how much do they pay you for it?
        And they said: We do not. We pay them to take it.
        And so the wheels started turning in my head. And at that
    point, I became a capitalist. I realized that there was money
    to be made. You could save the environment. At that time, it
    saved about 25 percent of the landfill space in our community,
    and I got into that business. But I want--and I have realized
    now that, of our trash stream, about 85 percent of that is
    compostable. It does not have to go into a landfill. And when
    it goes into landfill, everybody just--a lot of people think it
    just goes away. It does not go away. It creates all kinds of
    bad things for the environment. The gases, one of the most
    feared gases is methane, is when something decomposes in an
    anaerobic, or in the absence of oxygen. So, if we could compost
    those things, 85 percent of that waste stream could be turned
    back into soil, which would be utilized, I think, in a
    capitalist manner.
        And you wonder about capitalism. Well, I had the
    opportunity, I was sitting there with AOC, and I was pitching
    to her capitalism. I do not really know if it caught on with
    her or not, but my point was this. I said: You want to do away
    with airplanes--well, airplane engines that put out gases that
    are harmful to the environment. And I said: MIT right now has
    an airplane engine that has no moving parts and allegedly puts
    nothing harmful into the environment. No moving parts. And to
    me, that is just Buck Rogers, but I got on YouTube, and I
    watched the video, and I watched it--you all could probably
    understand it, but my 55-year-old brain just does not
    understand it. But it is fascinating to me. But, granted, all
    it did was fly a glider about the length of a football field.
    Well, I got to thinking, this little cell phone right here, 20
    years ago, according to my friends at Oak Ridge National
    Laboratory, was a hundred million dollar computer. Twenty years
    ago. Capitalism brought this, now everybody basically has a
    television studio, can get to all the information in the world,
    can contact anybody in the world for about, I do not know,
    about a hundred bucks a month, and it is a pretty good deal,
    and that was through capitalism. And I would encourage you all
    to explore that, that realm of our economy. I have a piece of
    legislation, and I would encourage you all, I would like to
    hear from each one of you all, what you all think about it. It
    is called carbon capture. It is a capitalist view of capturing
    carbon and utilizing it. And it is House Resolution 3861, and I
    would encourage you all, not now, look it up, get on your
    little computers, you all know how to use them better than I
    do. Somebody will show me when I get your email, and I would
    encourage you all to read that and see what it is. And I
    applaud you all for being here, I applaud your enthusiasm and I
    am incredibly proud that you are this concerned about our
    environment and our world, and thank you all so much for being
    here.
        Mr. Chairman, I yield back the remainder of my 55 seconds.
        Mr. Keating. Well, thank you.
        Representative Lujan.
        Mr. Lujan. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and to all of
    the chairs and ranking members for bringing us together today,
    to all of the panelists who are witnesses who are here with us
    today, I want to thank you as well. Before I begin my
    questions, though, I just want to remind my colleagues that
    those mobile phones that were once too big or a desktop that
    weighed thousands of pounds, they got smaller because of a
    Federal taxpayer investment by the United States of America,
    investing in the research. So I hope that there is an openness
    and a willingness that we take the same step. Let's put our
    money where our mouth is. Let's make sure that we are investing
    those dollars and we are answering this call.
        And, Ms. Thunberg, I appreciate the power of your
    testimony. You laid it out in a document right in front of us,
    a document where experts and scientists have laid out the path
    in the road for the world to take policy action. It is simple.
    The work has been done for us. We just have to follow that
    path. So I want to thank you for that.
        Now, I do not want to have to defend one of my colleagues
    as well, she can defend herself, as we all know. Congressman
    Cortez--or Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has not said
    that she wants to stop air travel. Her policies have said:
    Let's do better. Let's act.
        And I think that is what we are here to do. So I apologize;
    I took a little bit of my time to respond to some of the
    statements that were said earlier, but I thought it was
    important.
        So, Ms. Thunberg, when I was your age, the concentration of
    CO2 in the atmosphere was 350 parts per million. This year, we
    eclipsed 415 parts per million. I am going to try to make some
    sense out of this. What many scientists have said is that we
    only can get to 430 parts per million to get to an increase of
    1.5 degrees or to be able to even hold at 1.5 degrees increase.
    If we get to 450 parts per million, again we are at 415
    already, that gets us to two degrees. Let me share what that
    means. With 1.5 degrees, 14 percent of the global population
    will face extreme heat. At 2 percent, it is 37 percent. At 1.5
    degrees, we will see an ice-free Arctic once every hundred
    years. At two degrees, we see it every 10 years. At 1.5
    degrees, our fisheries decline by 1.5 million tons, and our
    coral reefs decline by at least 70 percent. At 2 degrees, our
    fisheries will decline by twice that, and we will lose 99
    percent of our coral reefs. We see the difference between what
    is devastating and what is even beyond what devastating can
    even be described as.
        Ms. Thunberg, the science could not be more clear. If we
    wait, the climate crisis will only be more devastating. Just a
    year ago, you were protesting outside the Swedish Parliament.
    Now you are part of an international coalition of young people
    demanding action. I asked a few students that I had the honor
    of working with in New Mexico, and one of them responded. Her
    name is Marina Weber Stevens. She is one of the founding
    members of the Global Warming Express. Anyone that is
    interested can find them at theglobalwarmingexpress.org. And
    she asked a very important question, but one that I think you
    have an answer to, and it is this: What is the best way to get
    the younger generations, teens and students, involved in
    advocacy to address the climate crisis? And I would add to
    that, adults. What can we be doing? How can we get more young
    people involved?
        Ms. Thunberg. How we can get more young people involved, I
    think to just tell them the truth, tell them how it is and--
    because when I found out how it actually was, that made me
    furious so I was--I wanted to do something about it. And that
    is the--at least I have spoken to many, and I think that is the
    experience many others have. Because as it is now, people in
    general do not seem to be very aware of the actual science and
    how severe this crisis actually is. So I just think we need to
    inform them and start treating this crisis like the existential
    emergency it is. Then I think people will understand and want
    to do something about it.
        Mr. Lujan. And that is powerful. Tell them the truth.
        With that, I yield back.
        Mr. Keating. Mr. Carter.
        Mr. Carter. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        And let me begin by thanking all four of you for being
    here. I cannot tell you how much this builds up my confidence
    in the younger generation, having you involved in this. It is
    extremely important that you be involved in the process, and I
    applaud you for being here, and I thank you for being here.
        I am going to start with you, Mr. Backer. It is really good
    to see someone who is interested in such an important project,
    or such an important topic, I should say, and also who
    understands that we need to factor in the economy in this and
    the economic impact that something like this could have. Do you
    think that the state of our economy and the need to maintain a
    robust economy--because, after all, you are all going to be
    participating in our economy. In a way you already are, but in
    the future, you will be even more. It is important that we have
    a robust economy so that we will be able to provide jobs for
    young people and for all of our citizens. But do you think it
    is important to consider that when we are considering climate
    change?
        Mr. Backer. Thank you, Mr. Carter, and also thank you for
    being a member of the Roosevelt Conservation Caucus. It is a
    caucus started by Republicans focused on bringing Conservatives
    back to environmental discussions. It is a major step forward,
    so thank you.
        So the economy definitely needs to be a part of this
    conversation because if we do not take the economy into
    consideration, we are leaving the people who are at the most
    risk at--we are keeping them at the most risk. We are allowing
    people who are in the lower poverty levels to be affected the
    most by our policies. There is an opportunity, a strong
    opportunity, to be economically sensible and environmentally
    sensible. Economic sustainability and environmental
    sustainability do go hand in hand. And I think a lot of people
    who are on this issue and believe that this is a topic that is
    of importance, believe that the agricultural industry,
    corporations, and fossil fuels, are a lot of times the enemy.
    But they are part of our society. And they are today, and they
    will be for the next--at least for the short-term. And so, if
    we want to lower emissions and we want to have a clean-air
    economy, we have to work with people, instead of against
    people. Because the only way that we are going to truly reduce
    emissions is to do that. And that is true with the economy.
    Because we cannot have a strong environment without a strong
    economy, and the worldwide statistics show, as I mentioned
    earlier, that the most free economies are the cleanest in the
    world. Does that mean that they are done and that they do not
    have to do more? Not in the slightest, but economic success and
    environmental success go hand in hand.
        Mr. Carter. OK. If I could--and I will let you in just a
    second. I want to show you something on the screen, if we can
    get it up. It is a chart that the EPA has put out--are we going
    to be able to do it? Just hold it up. You want me to hold it
    up. OK. All right. Are you going to be able to get this? OK.
    Well, unfortunately, you cannot see it very well, but it is a
    chart that the EPA put out in 2018, and it shows the growth of
    our economy since 1970. And the United States has actually
    grown our economy. Our gross domestic product has grown almost
    300 percent. Our vehicles miles traveled has grown almost 200
    percent. Population has grown. Energy consumption has grown.
    But our carbon output has decreased over that period of time.
    So it is possible to do. We can grow our economy and decrease
    our carbon output. We have done that since 1970. In fact, if
    you look, we have actually decreased the six common pollutants
    almost a hundred percent since 1970, while growing our economy.
    So it can be done. One thing I want to make sure we understand
    is that, look, look, listen to me: This is not a Republican-
    Democratic issue. This is an American issue. This is a world
    issue. It is not United States versus China versus India. All
    of us have to work on this together.
        I have always--I believe in climate change. I believe the
    climate's been changing since day one. I am old enough to
    remember--you are not--but I am old enough to remember the
    early 1970's when we thought we were headed for another Ice
    Age. Well, does man have an impact on that? Yes, we do have an
    impact. How much? That might be debatable. However, we should
    do something. And that is one of the things that I am so
    excited about.
        And, Mr. Backer, you mentioned this about the opportunities
    that exist here because I have always said, we have got to have
    three things. We got to have innovation. We have got to have
    mitigation. And we have got to have adaptation. And that
    innovation, the greatest innovators, the greatest scientists in
    the world are right here in the United States of America. That
    is why I am excited about us leading the way. And I think we
    can lead the way. Yes, we have got much to be done; there is no
    question about that.
        You also mentioned about agriculture. I represent a very
    rural area in south Georgia. The rural community is going to
    play a big part in this. We cannot leave them behind. That is
    going to be very important as well. We have to be very careful.
    My message is simple. And that is that, yes, this is something
    we have to deal with, but we cannot destroy our economy when we
    are dealing with it. We have to keep that in mind. We have to
    have affordable, reliable, clean energy.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.
        Mr. Keating. Well, thank you. As we said before, we have a
    hard stop. So here is what I want to just do in closing--there
    will be no closing statements, which will allow whatever time
    is limited. I do want to recognize Representative Brownley who
    has been here, paying great attention throughout the whole
    hearing; Representative Levin; Representative Titus;
    Representative Omar, in the case that we may not have the
    opportunity because you do have to leave. So I will now
    recognize Representative Meeks.
        Mr. Meeks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for this
    very, very timely and important hearing. Climate change is
    undoubtedly an economic threat--that is true; a national
    security threat--that is true; and, ultimately, and most
    importantly, an existential threat. It has battered our coasts
    and set our forests ablaze. In my home State, Mr. Barrett's
    home State of New York, Superstorm Sandy destroyed the property
    and uprooted the lives of thousands of New Yorkers, including
    many living in my district.
        If left unabated, climate change will displace world
    populations. Islands, Mr. Barrett, you are correct, will be
    gone, where people currently live. And it will continue to
    wreak havoc on our own, costing billions in damage. That is
    economics if we are not prepared. It will be billions of
    dollars that will cause economic damage if we do not do
    something about climate change. It will also--climate change
    threatens to undue the last 50 years of progress in
    development, in global health, and poverty reduction. So we
    have got to do something, urgently.
        If the world that we leave behind--and we all hold this
    world in trust for the next generation. So I look at it, the
    world that I leave behind for my new baby granddaughter, will
    look dramatically different if we do nothing today. Indeed, a
    drastic reduction in our carbon footprint will be one of, if
    not the most, important missions of our time.
        I also want to say--and I heard Ms. Margolin say this a
    number of times--I just want to let you know that anxiety
    research, indeed, shows that young people have high levels of
    anxiety. It is not, though, just because of climate change.
    Everything from the economics to health disparities to student
    loans, et cetera. Of course, climate change is compounding that
    problem. But what you are doing by being here and leading does
    make a difference. And I just used the example of one of my
    colleagues who, at 16 years old, helped change and shape a
    Nation. His name was John Lewis. He put his life on the line.
    He had a lot of anxiety if you talk to him. But by doing this
    with that anxiety and turning that anxiety into something that
    you are going to lead, to change, it makes the world a better
    place for all of us. So I compliment you on how you are using
    your anxiety to make a difference in the world. That is
    something that is so important, and, indeed, yes, all young
    folks--I am old enough to remember the civil rights movement,
    when it was led by students, and high school students, who
    said, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. And they
    changed things. So believe this: that each and every one of
    you--Mr. Backer, I have been listening to you. You are part of
    a change that is going to make us all better, make this Nation
    and this world better. One of the things--we will fight back
    and forth, but guess what, I still bet on America. We will go
    through some of the bad times, because Lord knows I have seen
    bad times, and I have seen us come through it.
        So I want to say to each and every one of you: Do not give
    up on America because what America is all about is that, if we
    stand up and fight, if we stand up for what we believe in, we
    will change things. It does make a difference.
        It is the reason why I can sit here, Mr. Barrett, because I
    have seen my father go through some terrible times as an
    African American, and then I saw Barack Obama become President
    of the United States. Not just for Black folks, but for all
    folks. Keep up your work; you will make this place we call
    Earth not only exist but thrive and be a better place, and I
    yield back.
        Mr. Keating. Well, thank you. Thank you for your
    extraordinary testimony. It makes a difference. It will make a
    difference, and, by the way, it is bipartisan and based on
    science. Thank you for being here.
        We also want to thank Representative Costa who has been
    here, too, as well. So you stayed later than you agreed to. I
    know how hard pressed you are. So, if we could just ask those
    in the audience and the press, allow the witnesses to go to the
    anteroom, where we came in from, so that you can get to your
    next place more quickly. So, please, remain seated, allow the
    witnesses to go to the ante room so that they can have an
    expedited way back to their next meeting which they agreed to
    stay longer to hear our testimony.
        With that, I adjourn this hearing. Thank you.
        [Whereupon, at 11:37 a.m., the committees were adjourned.]

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