[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 84 (Monday, June 2, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3335-S3336]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Energy Policy

  Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to offer my 
strong support of the Environmental Protection Agency's clean power 
plan to cut carbon pollution from existing powerplants. The EPA's 
proposal is a powerful step in the fight to protect our health and our 
environment.
  We face a crisis. We know that high carbon dioxide levels in our 
atmosphere are driving climate change. We know these carbon dioxide 
levels are increasing the acidity of our oceans, disrupting already 
fragile marine ecosystems. We know that powerplants are responsible for 
about 40 percent of America's carbon pollution.
  Add all that up and we have enough to know that reducing carbon 
pollution from powerplant emissions will make a real difference in the 
fight against climate change. Pollution from powerplants is also 
associated with other dangerous chemicals.
  A study led by the University of Syracuse and Harvard University 
found that reducing carbon dioxide emissions from powerplants can also 
reduce emissions of other pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen 
oxides, particulate matter, and mercury.
  These dangerous chemicals contribute to acid rain, the destruction of 
ecosystems, ozone damage to trees and crops, and mercury in fish. These 
dangerous chemicals are also a direct threat to our health, increasing 
the risk of heart attacks, asthma, and even death. Add all that up and 
we have enough to know that reducing powerplant emissions will make a 
real difference in the health of our children, our parents, and 
ourselves.
  Scientists all around the world have collected mountains of evidence 
about the dangers of carbon pollution. Their basic conclusions are no 
longer speculative or debatable. Even so, some politicians respond to 
this evidence by denying it is true, by rejecting scientific evidence 
or by claiming they just cannot understand the science.
  This country was not built by people who ignored facts. Sure, the 
deniers can defend their friends in the pollution business, they can 
rail against science or pretend it does not exist, but the facts are 
catching up with us. This pollution is killing people across this 
country. According to the American Lung Association, up to 100,000 
asthma attacks and 4,000 premature deaths will be avoided in the first 
year the clean power plan goes into effect.
  Let the deniers deny the facts, but do not let them deny our children 
clean air to breathe or deny our parents long and healthy lives. The 
EPA's draft proposal based on its authority under the Clean Air Act is 
a commonsense approach that builds on work already underway in States 
and cities across the country. Under the proposal, States will work 
with the EPA to reduce carbon pollution, and they can use a variety of 
tools to do it. The clean power plan encourages States to be creative 
and efficient, to partner with private industry to give our children a 
safer, healthier world.
  In Massachusetts, we have seen how effective those solutions can be, 
after passing laws to increase energy efficiency and encourage 
renewable energy production. The Commonwealth joined neighboring States 
as part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. We called it RGGI, 
and since 2005 RGGI has helped member States cut carbon emissions by 40 
percent.
  RGGI has shown results and it has done so with bipartisan support and 
the backing of many members of the business community, members who 
understand that taking action against pollution is not only good for 
our public health and our environment, it is also good for business.
  The fight against carbon pollution is about protecting our health, 
protecting our communities, and protecting our future. But make no 
mistake, this fight is also about whether this country works only for 
big energy companies or whether it works for everyone else too.
  The terrible consequences of failing to act are real. We cannot 
afford to wait. But every time rules are proposed to clean up our air 
and water or to protect our environment, powerful deep-pocketed 
corporations line up to fight these changes. These opponents and their 
Republican friends are already attacking the EPA's proposed changes. 
Their latest move is to argue that the EPA's efforts somehow are not 
legal. That argument is laughable. Seven years ago, my State of 
Massachusetts led a multistate fight that went all the way to the 
Supreme Court to force the EPA to do its job to address carbon 
pollution in this country. We won that case and we started the process 
that resulted in the Supreme Court ruling that the EPA has the 
authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.
  Instead of embracing change, instead of working to develop rules to 
reduce pollution and protect the air we breathe, some companies and 
their Republican friends have fought change at every step. They loudly 
defend a world where polluters cut their costs by spewing dangerous 
chemicals and greenhouse gases into our air and water, leaving everyone 
else to deal with the consequences of their pollution.
  They loudly defend a world where giant oil companies suck down 
billions of dollars in subsidies every year, while the green energy 
industries of the future fight for every scrap of support. They quietly 
work to tilt the playing field against the technologies of the future 
so that clean energy entrepreneurs and innovators have a harder time 
succeeding, while dirty energy companies keep raking in the profits.
  Climate change is real. More than 120 million Americans live in 
counties that border the shoreline and a rising sea that threatens 
their homes and their communities. Millions more live in the path of 
wildfires or will be caught in the drought that will devastate our 
land. But unlike big energy companies, they do not have armies of 
lobbyists and lawyers to protect their interests. They see Washington 
ignore those problems and they see a system that is rigged against 
them. These millions of Americans have only their voices, and they call 
on us to fight for them, to

[[Page S3336]]

fight for meaningful action to address climate change.
  The EPA's new clean power plan is one part of the solution. We must 
build on this proposal and continue our efforts to cut carbon 
pollution, to improve energy efficiency, and to invest in building a 
clean energy economy.
  I applaud President Obama and EPA Administrator McCarthy for their 
leadership in stepping up and pushing for meaningful standards, and I 
expect that a strong final rule will be implemented next year because 
no matter the opposition, no matter how powerful those industries that 
would let our forests burn, let our crops dry up, let our children get 
sick, and let our cities drown just to protect their own profits, we 
have no choice but to take real action to fight climate change. The 
simple truth is that our future depends on it.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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