[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 28, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2468-S2469]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CLIMATE CHANGE

  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, the evidence of climate disruption 
caused by carbon pollution is clear and overwhelming. Yet the Senate is 
sleepwalking through this history. I am here today for the 97th time to 
say that we must wake up. Climate disruptions are felt in every corner 
of the globe, from the ocean floor to the reaches of the atmosphere and 
from pole to pole.
  Indeed, the United States is an Arctic Nation. We have been so since 
Secretary of State Seward negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia 
in 1878 for about $7 million. From our vantage point at the Arctic 
Circle, we are witnessing some of the direst climate disruptions.
  The Arctic region has been warming now for decades, twice as fast as 
the rest of the planet. Alaska's warmest year on record was 2014, going 
back to at least 1918. Here I am talking about measurements, not a 
theory. This year the Alaskan winter was so mild that the start of the 
famous Iditarod race had to be moved from Anchorage to Fairbanks, more 
than 300 miles to the north, so that the mushers could find snow and 
hard, frozen rivers to sled on.
  The Arctic Biodiversity Assessment, a project drawing on more than 
250 scientists from 15 countries, detailed the risk to the iconic 
wildlife and landscape of the Arctic. The report's chief scientist 
said:

       Polar bears and other highly adapted organisms cannot move 
     further north, so they may go extinct. We risk losing several 
     species forever.


[[Page S2469]]


  The report is clear. Climate change is the most serious threat to 
Arctic biodiversity and to its fisheries and tourism. Arctic warming 
has wreaked havoc on the ice cover of the Arctic terrain and ocean.
  Look at the Greenland ice sheet. In 2012, the National Snow and Ice 
Data Center recorded melting over a larger area than ever in more than 
30 years of satellite observation.
  Here is a map of the average annual days of melting across the 
Greenland ice sheet from 1979 to 2007. That is the average. Here is 
2012. Some areas, such as along here, the southwestern coast, saw more 
than 120 days of melting in 2012. Scientists estimate that the water 
pouring out of this ice sheet accounts for 30 percent of current global 
sea level rise. If the entire Greenland ice sheet were to melt, the 
seas would rise 6 meters.
  Here is what 20 feet of sea level rise would look like for the east 
coast. Much of Rhode Island's coastline here would be lost. Florida, 
ground zero for climate change, would lose the entire southern region 
of the State. Here is Miami, completely underwater. Here is 
Tallahassee's new oceanfront.
  Sea ice in the Arctic, not just land ice, is also in full retreat. 
Our scientists at NASA track disappearing sea ice using satellites. 
Since NASA started measurements in 1979, Arctic ice coverage has 
diminished in almost all regions and seasons. The winter record low 
ever--ever--was this March.
  The ice is not just a feature of the Arctic landscape. It supports 
the way of life of Native people. Thinning ice, dangerous to traverse, 
threatens traditional sustenance such as quail hunting. Sea ice 
protects the shoreline from powerful ocean storms and waves. As that 
ice barrier fades away, land and infrastructure flood and wash away. 
Entire villages are facing wholesale relocation, as Senator Murkowski 
from Alaska has indicated on the floor. It is the climate that has 
sustained them for generations that is being disrupted.
  A new national security theater has opened in the Arctic as melting 
ice frees up the Northwest Passage for transportation and shipping, for 
new fishing grounds, and for its natural resources. The Departments of 
Homeland Security and Defense need new strategies and equipment to 
protect American interests in this new theater.
  In 2013, the Pentagon released its ``Arctic Strategy.'' Then 
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, the former Republican Senator, said:

       Climate change is shifting the landscape in the Arctic more 
     rapidly than anywhere else in the world. While the Arctic 
     temperature rise is relatively small in absolute terms, its 
     effects are significant--transforming what was a frozen 
     desert into an evolving navigable ocean, giving rise to an 
     unprecedented level of human activity.

  His words are echoed by former Coast Guard Commandant ADM Robert 
Papp, Jr., who is now the U.S. Special Representative to the Arctic 
Region. It is his job to help manage risk in this remote but 
increasingly accessible region of the world. He had this to say about 
the disruptions of the Arctic climate:

       I am not a scientist. I can read what scientists say, but I 
     am in the world of consequence management. My first turn in 
     Alaska was thirty-nine years ago, and during the summertime 
     we had to break ice to get up to the Bering Strait and to get 
     to Kotzebue. Thirty-five years later, going up there as 
     commandant, we flew into Kotzebue at the same time of year; I 
     could not see ice anywhere. So it is clear to me there are 
     changes happening, but I have to deal with the consequences 
     of that.

  Last weekend, Secretary Kerry headed to the Canadian city of Iqaluit 
to assume the chair of the Arctic Council on behalf of the United 
States. The Arctic Council is the international forum for Arctic 
nations to work together to ensure a secure and sustainable Arctic 
future. Secretary Kerry made it clear that climate disruption would be 
a focus for America's chairmanship, saying plainly:

       The ability of future generations to be able to adapt, 
     live, and prosper in the Arctic the way people have for 
     thousands of years is tragically but actually in jeopardy. . 
     . . So if we want to know where the problem begins, all we 
     have to do is look in the mirror.

  Secretary Kerry sees this problem for what it is and knows we need to 
lead in addressing climate change. Congress, too, should seize the 
opportunity to do big things, to understand the changes that are 
occurring, and to protect against these climate disruptions. Our 
executive homeland and national security leaders must deal in real 
world consequences. So should we. They do not have the privilege of 
shrugging off serious risk analysis; neither should we.
  But the big polluters and their front organizations ignore the 
consequences of carbon pollution, cherry pick the evidence, and traffic 
in denial, doubt, and delay. Deniers are quick to point out that 
Antarctic sea ice is increasing while Arctic sea ice is melting. But 
the fact is that, overall, the globe is losing sea ice at a rapid 
peace. Since satellite measurements began, the planet has been losing 
sea ice at an average rate of 13,500 square miles per year.
  The deniers usually also leave out the melting of the great ice 
sheets of Antarctica. Remember, see ice floats on the sea and its 
melting does not much raise the sea level. Ice sheets rest on land. 
Their melting adds to the seas. Scientists now warn that the melting of 
some of those massive Antarctic ice sheets may have ``passed the point 
of no return.''
  Rhode Island has already experienced nearly 10 inches of sea level 
rise. The implications of an Arctic ice sheet melting are measured in 
feet, not inches. Many thought that the Alaska Purchase was a mistake. 
Some called it ``Seward's folly.'' But Secretary Seward had vision when 
he secured Alaska for the United States, and now it is a treasured part 
of this great Nation.
  We in Congress, in the Senate, should try to see through the haze of 
polluter influence and muster some vision ourselves on what scientists 
and world leaders alike call the greatest challenge of our time. The 
United States should be leading--not stalled by special-interest 
politics. Secretary Kerry knows we should lead. He has made fighting 
carbon pollution a priority for the State Department in the lead-up to 
the global climate talks in Paris this fall. More than 100 Democratic 
Members of Congress sent a letter last month to the President, 
supporting U.S. leadership in these talks. We told the President: ``We 
stand ready to help you seize this opportunity to strengthen the global 
response to climate change.''
  But what do our Republican colleagues try to do? They try to 
undermine American leadership. The majority leader openly warned other 
countries that the United States would not be able to meet its climate 
plan and that they should proceed with caution before entering into a 
binding, unattainable deal. It is past time to take action. The price 
of being wrong on this will be very high, particularly if the reason 
turns out, in the eyes of history and of our fellow nations, to have 
been partisan politics and special-interest influence.
  One of America's great powers is the power of our example. What a 
sickening example we are setting now. Our inaction is our folly. It is, 
indeed, time to wake up.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. 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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