[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 173 (Tuesday, December 1, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1688]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             IN OPPOSITION TO S.J. RES. 23 AND S.J. RES. 24

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 1, 2015

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to both 
resolutions before us today. Congress has a constitutional duty to 
conduct oversight of the Executive Branch, and the Congressional Review 
Act is an important tool in our toolbox. However, these resolutions are 
nothing more than partisan attempts to nullify the EPA's Clean Power 
Plan, sending a message to countries around the world of political 
discord in the United States as global climate change negotiations are 
taking place in Paris.
  Climate change is real and it is a threat to the entire world. The 
first nine months of 2015 were the warmest on record and these higher 
temperatures have contributed to the drought and wildfires that have 
ravaged my home state of California over the past five years.
  It's also a fact that the costs of failing to address climate 
change--both human and economic--grow with every year we fail to take 
action. A recently released United Nations report revealed that in the 
past two decades weather-related disasters have killed more than 
600,000 people and cost trillions of dollars in economic losses. The 
report cited rising ocean temperatures and melting glaciers as two main 
drivers of extreme weather events which have increased at an alarming 
rate. The White House Council on Economic Advisers also calculated that 
failing to meet our climate goals will cost the U.S. $150 billion per 
year in reduced economic output. For each decade we ignore climate 
change, the costs of mitigation increase by 40 percent, which works out 
to approximately a $500 tax on every American each year, increasing by 
40 percent every ten years.
  With Congress failing to act on climate change, the Administration is 
taking strong action which I support. As we speak, representatives from 
over 190 countries are working to produce a landmark agreement in Paris 
to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on a global scale and invest in 
clean energy technologies. Even before the negotiations began, 
countries that make up nearly 90 percent of global GHG output submitted 
pledges to cut their emissions, including major polluters such as 
China, India, and the United States. In the U.S., the Clean Power Plan 
is projected to reduce GHG emissions by 32 percent by 2030.
  There is global recognition of the threat of climate change and the 
two resolutions before the House today would invalidate a key part of 
our nation's responsibility to reduce global GHG emissions by 
preventing any future EPA regulation of carbon emissions from power 
plants. This is a blatantly transparent attempt to influence the Paris 
negotiations on behalf of the status quo and the special interests in 
the fossil fuel industry. I believe the mere consideration of these 
resolutions diminishes U.S. leadership and this institution in the eyes 
of the world community, and it condemns us to a future of even higher 
risks.
  I urge my colleagues to oppose these resolutions of disapproval.

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