[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 51 (Friday, April 8, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E675]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ENERGY TAX PREVENTION ACT OF 2011

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                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 6, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 910) to 
     amend the Clean Air Act to prohibit the Administrator of the 
     Environmental Protection Agency from promulgating any 
     regulation concerning, taking action relating to, or taking 
     into consideration the emission of a greenhouse gas to 
     address climate change, and for other purposes:

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chair, I rise today to oppose H.R. 910, the so-
called Energy Tax Prevention Act. H.R. 910 would permanently ban the 
Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, from protecting human health and 
the environment by enforcing the Clean Air Act and confronting the 
threat of climate change.
  This radical, anti-environmental legislation is a distraction from 
the number one issue facing Congress: promoting job creation and 
economic growth. Instead of focusing on the economy, the House 
Republican majority is trying to legislate science by overriding the 
established scientific consensus on climate change and the threat posed 
by greenhouse gases. H.R. 910 endangers public health and will cost 
American jobs by slowing our economy's transition to cleaner, more 
secure energy sources. A recent EPA report revealed that reducing 
greenhouse gas emissions will prevent the early deaths of 230,000 
Americans in 2020 and produce $2 trillion in economic benefits by that 
same year.
  I published an editorial with climate science expert John Abraham of 
the University of St. Thomas to voice my strong opposition to H.R. 910. 
I ask that a copy of this editorial be included in the Congressional 
Record.

              [Published in The Hill blog on Apr. 6, 2011]

      Congress on Wrong Side of History in Denying Climate Change

            (By Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) and John Abraham)

       Right now in our hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota, we are 
     preparing for what might possibly be record-breaking floods 
     due to winter's heavy snowfall and the threat of heavier 
     spring downpours. Minnesota has already experienced two 100-
     year floods in the Red River Valley within the past 13 years. 
     Local doctors report an increase in cases of children with 
     asthma and other respiratory conditions. Lake Superior has 
     seen record low water levels in recent years, threatening 
     not only drinking water supplies but the Duluth-Superior 
     port that receives more than 1,200 ships and 48 million 
     tons of cargo.
       All of these public health, economic, and environmental 
     trends have been strongly linked to climate change. Multiple 
     studies have shown that 97 percent of the most qualified 
     climate scientists are in agreement that humans are causing 
     the planet to warm. If this was an illness, and 97 percent of 
     doctors recommended a certain treatment, we would take 
     appropriate action.
       Instead, the majority party in the House of Representatives 
     is choosing to willfully defy the diagnosis and overturn 
     established science by voting on a bill (H.R. 910) that will 
     gut the Clean Air Act and prohibit the Environmental 
     Protection Agency (EPA) from ever protecting the American 
     people from the disastrous impacts of climate change.
       During the committee markup of H.R. 910, not a single 
     Republican voted to even acknowledge the validity of EPA's 
     scientific finding that ``warming of the climate system is 
     unequivocal,'' caused by human activities, and a threat to 
     public health. The rejection of those amendments is shocking 
     to scientists who understand the serious risks Americans face 
     from global climate change.
       This places the climate deniers on the same side as those 
     fringe extremists who denied the harmful impacts of cigarette 
     smoking and DDT, and the causes of acid rain and ozone 
     depletion. Proponents of H.R. 910 are denying science and 
     dangerously on the wrong side of history.
       We believe now is the time to confront climate change. If 
     we act wisely, we can simultaneously protect the environment, 
     create jobs, diversify our energy supplies, and improve 
     national security.
       A recent report by Pew Environment Group shows the U.S. has 
     now fallen to number three behind China and Germany for clean 
     energy private investment. Passage of H.R. 910 will guarantee 
     America loses out on the jobs of the future by obstructing 
     efforts to build the new clean energy economy. It will deepen 
     America's dependence on dirty coal and imported oil instead 
     of creating American jobs through investments in renewable 
     resources and energy efficiency.
       Our country must turn the problems presented by climate 
     change into an opportunity. Instead of devoting its time to 
     discrediting scientists and undermining the EPA, Congress 
     should put more faith in the genius of the American spirit to 
     protect our environment and human health while creating 
     economic growth. With the right clean energy incentives and 
     framework, we believe America can out-innovate and out-build 
     anyone in the world. The proponents of H.R. 910 not only deny 
     climate change, they undermine America's ability to fmd 
     solutions that benefit consumers, workers and the 
     environment.
       Every single member of Congress has a choice: deny the 
     science of climate change or take real steps to confront a 
     changing climate. Congress must accept scientific reality and 
     act on climate change.

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