[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 17 (Wednesday, January 29, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H1503]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          SAFE CLIMATE CAUCUS

  (Mr. LOWENTHAL asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LOWENTHAL. Mr. Speaker, inaction on climate change will be more 
costly in the long run than an investment in curbing emissions now. The 
nonpartisan Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently urged 
policymakers--that is us in Congress--to take immediate action on 
climate change to avoid not only costly damages to our planet but, 
really, the costly impact to our economy.
  The report indicates that if strong action to curb greenhouse gas 
emissions does not take place in the next 15 years, our last resort to 
avoid catastrophic global changes will be to rely on expensive 
technologies to remove harmful greenhouse gases, and that would be 
unbelievably expensive.
  The report also estimates that the longer we wait, the cost goes up, 
and the impact on the economy is more devastating. If we wait until 
2030, we reduce our ability to produce goods and services by up to 4 
percent. If we wait until 2050, it is up to 6 percent; and if we wait 
until 2100, it is up to a 12 percent loss of goods and services. The 
time to act is now.

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