[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 12 (Monday, January 26, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S488-S489]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE

  Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I come to the floor this evening to speak 
about our ongoing debate about the Keystone XL Pipeline and the need 
for this debate to shift to a much larger conversation.
  Tonight, as we are continuing in what has been 1\1/2\ weeks of debate 
in our Senate about this single, foreign-owned pipeline, it is my hope 
that we will begin a larger, broader conversation about America's 
energy and climate needs.
  We have so far voted on amendments confirming that climate change is 
real, on the future of natural gas and oil exports, on energy 
efficiency provisions, on rules to ensure that we buy American, and on 
funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the oilspill fund.
  I, myself, have an amendment, No. 115, that I am hoping we will have 
a chance to take up, debate, vote on, and pass--one that recognizes 
that given that the Senate has acknowledged the reality of climate 
change, we must now move forward to take action to prepare to adapt to 
those changes--changes that have already begun.
  I come from the State of Delaware, the lowest mean-elevation State in 
America, where our Governor, Jack Markell, has led a community-driven 
process of preparing for adapting to the coming impact on our 
infrastructure--our public, private, State, local, and Federal 
infrastructure in Delaware.
  We have to recognize that our Federal Government will have financial 
liabilities to help State, local, and tribal governments prepare for 
the impacts of climate change on their infrastructure and to prepare 
for the impacts of climate change on our Federal infrastructure.
  My amendment, I hope, will be taken up, debated, and passed, but the 
larger point I want to make is this is just the beginning of the much 
larger debate we need to have about our Nation's energy and climate 
future.
  Energy has long been and will remain central to a strong, diverse, 
and vibrant economy for our Nation. Throughout our history, Americans 
have benefited greatly from abundant sources of energy at home. From 
coal to oil to natural gas, we have been blessed by natural resources 
that have powered our economy. But new challenges today require new 
approaches. As human-generated greenhouse gas pollution wreaks havoc on 
our global climate, we need to come together to create a cleaner and 
lower-carbon energy future.
  There is no single pathway to stop climate change or to deal with it, 
but there are a number of approaches we need to look at and that I hope 
we will consider taking.
  Tonight I wish to briefly mention four different areas where there 
were bipartisan bills in the last Congress--areas that I hope, in the 
spirit of comity and debate in the Senate, we could reconsider and make 
them part of this broader energy and climate debate.
  First, we could start by establishing and implementing a national 
quadrennial energy review which would ensure that every administration, 
current and future, takes a hard look at our Nation's energy landscape, 
the challenges that we face, and to build a blue print for how we will 
deal with these challenges and overcome them.
  Today we already conduct these kinds of quadrennial reviews for the 
Pentagon, for the State Department, and for the Department of Homeland 
Security. They allow us to take a big picture and strategic look at our 
policies, our challenges, and to chart a predictable, longer term path 
forward.
  It is time we did the same for our country's energy challenges. This 
administration is already at work doing this, but Congress needs to act 
to ensure that future administrations will continue this practice.
  Second, we can invest in clean and renewable energy and in energy 
efficiency technology so that we can out-innovate the rest of the world 
and lay the groundwork for job creation, not only for today but for 
tomorrow. We can do this through sustained, annual program funding and 
through smart and innovative financing models that lower the cost of 
clean energy, such as expanded master limited partnerships.
  Third, we can improve the way our national labs collaborate with the 
private sector so that the innovation pipeline that takes ideas from 
the lab to the market is smooth, efficient, and predictable so that 
today's discoveries are tomorrow's world-changing products.

[[Page S489]]

  And, fourth, we can improve STEM education and skills training 
throughout America so that every day we are training tomorrow's future 
energy innovators.
  We can do this. We need to do these things.
  I will admit that at times it can seem quite daunting. But in this 
country we should have no doubt that if we focus our greatest minds on 
these challenges, there is no limit to what we can achieve. The bottom 
line to all this is that we don't have a choice. Pretending otherwise 
is an exercise in denial.

  We need to curb emissions from transportation. We need to reduce 
pollution from powerplants. We need to better finance clean energy 
solutions. We need to strengthen our infrastructure so we are more 
resilient in the face of coming climate challenges. We need to address 
the real challenges of energy and water demand. We need to improve our 
regulations so that we do more to protect and conserve our land. And we 
need to invest in research, development, and the demonstration of new 
and innovative technologies. Overall, we can and should institute smart 
and market-based regional and national policies that will lower carbon 
pollution and send businesses and households the signal that the future 
is in cleaner not in dirtier energy technology.
  We need to do all this and bring the rest of the world along as well 
because our national energy and climate challenges are not just ours, 
they are the world's, and we need to come together around the world to 
get this done. The administration's clean power plan rules and the 
recently announced accord with China are all great initial steps in 
this direction. It is my hope as we continue this debate that we will 
come together in the Senate to show we are willing to rise to these 
challenges as a nation as well.
  Mr. President, for me, all of this ultimately comes down to our 
obligations--yes, of course, to our Nation, to our constituents, to our 
home States, but particularly as parents to our children and to future 
generations. Every day when I get to return home from the train station 
after taking what is often a late-evening train from Washington to 
Delaware, I get to see my family, and it is my children who leave me 
most concerned about the question of whether I will be leaving them a 
safer and healthier world than we received.
  My daughter Maggie in particular is passionate about the environment 
and is concerned about whether what we do here is not just helping to 
create jobs today--although that is an important issue for us to turn 
to--but whether we are helping to preserve our world for tomorrow. 
Maggie helps keep me focused not just on this quarter, this month, this 
election, or this term, but on the next 50 years and on whether what we 
do here leaves to our children and their children a cleaner and a 
better and brighter future. That is what our focus should be--on the 
future, on what we are doing not just for today but for tomorrow and 
all the days after that.
  I hope when the debate about this one pipeline is over we will 
refocus our energies on the bigger picture and on the great and big 
challenges we face together. That is what we get elected to do, and 
that is what our time demands.

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