[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 77 (Tuesday, June 4, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H3022]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CLIMATE CHANGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Chu) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. CHU. I rise today to bring much-needed attention to a serious 
threat to our Nation: climate change.
  There are those of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that 
routinely dismiss this threat or brush it under the rug as normal or 
even false, but the true consequences of climate change are not lost on 
the American people.
  Extreme weather is real. From monster tornados destroying Oklahoma, 
to Hurricane Katrina destroying the Jersey shore, to wildfires raging 
out of control in the West, climate change is not an issue that we can 
put off.
  As Environment Task Force chair on the House Sustainable Energy and 
Environment Coalition, this issue is extremely important to me. In 
fact, it should be important to all of us because we all bear the cost. 
Climate change does not have geographic boundaries and it does not 
discriminate on whom it wreaks havoc.
  If you do not believe that climate change is a threat or that the 
costs are real today, let me share with you a few facts:
  In 2011 and 2012, there were 25 extreme weather events affecting 43 
States.
  In 2013, we have already started with an early and intense wildfire 
season in my home of southern California.

                              {time}  1030

  Extreme weather events in 2011 and 2012 caused $188 billion in 
economic damage and cost American taxpayers $136 billion. That is 
nearly $1,000 per individual taxpayer, or the equivalent of 
approximately a 2 percent tax increase. And these are low estimates. 
Literally thousands of heat, rain, and snow records were broken.
  My State of California is particularly vulnerable to wildfires. In 
the previous decade, the average size of these wildfires was 89 acres. 
But in 2012, the average size was 165 acres, nearly double. And 9.2 
million acres, mostly in the western U.S., were burned. And in the last 
5 years, fires have been more damaging and more costly than ever 
before.
  Other regions are vulnerable to floods, droughts, hurricanes, and 
tornadoes. Just recently, while storm waters were inundating homes in 
one part of our country, ships were unable to navigate the Mississippi 
River due to extremely low water levels. These are facts we cannot 
afford to ignore.
  It is true that changes in the Earth's climate have occurred 
cyclically over eons. But human activity has accelerated these changes, 
fundamentally jeopardizing our environment. And, we do not have eons to 
fix it. We rely on this environment for water, air, food and so much 
economic activity. We cannot turn a blind eye to climate change. 
Instead, we need to start preparing for it and work harder to stop it. 
That's why I call on Congress to stop the attacks on our environment 
and finally pass legislation to reduce greenhouse gas and carbon 
pollution.

                          ____________________