[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 27, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2488-S2489]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     PARIS CLIMATE CHANGE AGREEMENT

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I wish to speak in strong support of the 
United Nations' Paris climate change agreement and the President's 
decision for the United States to be among the first nations to sign 
the agreement.
  Last Friday, April 22, the United States and more than 170 nations 
came together in New York to sign the international climate agreement 
negotiated last year that would slow global warming and help poorer 
nations most affected by it. I find it very symbolic that April 22, the 
first day that nations could officially sign the agreement, was also 
Earth Day. Earth Day is a reminder of our obligation to preserve and 
protect our environment for our children and future generations to 
come.
  Last year, I joined nine of my Senate colleagues in Paris to attend 
the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP 
21, where the climate agreement was negotiated. What we witnessed at 
COP 21 was monumental: 195 countries, representing more than 95 percent 
of global carbon emissions, came together to adopt the first universal 
climate agreement that calls for international cooperation on 
addressing the causes of global warming and helping poorer nations most 
affected by it.
  I am proud to say that the United States was a big part of that 
effort. President Obama's leadership was key in encouraging China, the 
world's largest emitter, to submit an aggressive climate action plan, 
and helping countries to find consensus necessary to make such a 
landmark agreement.
  The Paris agreement establishes a long-term, durable global framework 
for countries to work together to reduce carbon emissions and keep the 
global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius in order to avoid 
some of the worst consequences of climate change. For the first time, 
countries have committed to putting forward ambitious, nationally 
determined climate targets and reporting on their

[[Page S2489]]

progress towards those targets using a standardized process of review. 
The Paris agreement encourages transparency, accountability, and 
collaboration among nations not only to meet their climate targets, but 
to encourage innovation while doing so.
  No country is insulated from the increasingly present and escalating 
effects of climate change. In the United States, we are seeing it 
throughout the country, and we are certainly feeling its effects in New 
Hampshire. Rising temperatures are shortening our fall foliage season, 
which is so important to our State's tourism economy. Milder winters 
have led to increases of insect-borne diseases that endanger our 
wildlife. In New Hampshire, we have already seen a 40 percent decline 
in our moose population. The changing climate is also putting more 
stress on sugar maples, and this is already affecting syrup production.
  Investments to improve the resiliency of our communities at all 
levels is critically important to our ability to mitigate the impacts 
of climate change. And that is what we are doing in New Hampshire. At 
the grassroots and statewide, Granite Staters recognize the urgency of 
addressing climate change and are leading the way by reducing pollution 
and transitioning to a more efficient, clean energy economy.
  For example, last month in Durham, the New Hampshire Climate Action 
Coalition joined with the University of New Hampshire to host a pancake 
breakfast and discuss the negative impact of climate change on the 
maple syrup industry. The event featured a panel of local maple syrup 
producers, scientists, and others who understand the impacts that 
climate change is having on forests and maple trees. Over 80 people 
came together to enjoy maple syrup, hear the speakers, and take action 
to protect our environment.
  New Hampshire is also a part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas 
Initiative, RGGI--the Nation's first regional cap-and-trade program 
designed to reduce harmful carbon emissions from the power sector. 
Through our participation in RGGI, New Hampshire has reduced greenhouse 
gas emissions in the power sector by nearly 50 percent since 2008 and 
is on track to meet the administration's Clean Power Plan's carbon-
reduction goals 10 years ahead of schedule.
  The events happening in New Hampshire show that there truly is broad 
momentum in the fight against climate change. But in order to achieve 
our goals, State and local actions must be accompanied by national and 
international involvement. This is why the international climate change 
agreement is so essential.
  Under the Paris agreement, the United States has made a commitment to 
reduce carbon emissions by at least 26 percent below 2005 levels by 
2025. While this goal is indeed ambitious, it is something that we can 
achieve. By implementing administrative policies like the 
administration's Clean Power Plan, which will reduce pollution from our 
Nation's dirtiest power plants, and by doing what this Chamber did last 
week, which was to take up and pass a comprehensive energy bill that 
will encourage energy efficiency and improve our Nation's energy 
policies, we can meet our commitments.
  The United States must also be responsive to climate change's impact 
on our friends in the world's least developed and most vulnerable 
countries. As one of the world's largest emitters of carbon emissions, 
we have a responsibility to the world on climate change.
  Climate change represents an enormous challenge, but the solutions 
are within reach if we put into place policies that allow for swift 
action. The world must work together to ensure that the goals of the 
Paris agreement are realized. We have a responsibility to help protect 
our children and grandchildren from the most severe consequences of 
global warming by reducing emissions now.

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