[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 173 (Thursday, October 26, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6828-S6829]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Climate Disruption

  Now, Mr. President, I will turn to a different topic. Climate 
disruption is a seminal challenge of our generation. It affects 
everything from our forests to fisheries and farming. Rural America is 
the core target of the impacts of the changing climate, and we see the 
impacts worldwide. We see it in disappearing ice sheets and melting 
permafrost and the reduced number of glaciers around the world and 
dying coral reefs. We see it in migrating animals and insects. We 
certainly see it in the more powerful hurricanes hitting the United 
States in Texas and Puerto Rico and Florida.
  In response, communities around the world are transforming their 
energy economies. They are increasing the efficiencies of their 
buildings, their vehicles, and their appliances. They are working to 
replace carbon-polluting fossil fuel energy with clean and renewable 
energy.
  Well, how much do you know about the changes underway? Let's find 
out. Welcome to episode 6 of the ``Senate Climate Disruption Quiz.'' 
Here we go.
  First question: In December of 2016, vehicle emissions and coal 
production in the United States of America were each at record lows 
since what year? Were they at record lows since 1970, 1974, 1980, or 
1986? Lock in your answers.
  The answer is not 1970 or 1974 or 1980; the answer is 1986. We are 
now working on over three decades, despite a vast increase in the 
vehicle miles traveled. We have reduced the emissions, and we certainly 
reduced the emissions in coal production. We are experiencing quite

[[Page S6829]]

a change. We see the transition through clean and renewable energy 
irrevocably underway.
  Let's go to the second question. How many Republican 
Representatives--Members of the House--asserted that climate change has 
the potential to adversely impact all Americans? How many Republican 
Members of the House? Was it 13 or 17 or 20 or 22? Admittedly, it is a 
modest number.
  The number was 17. The answer is B. These 17 Republican lawmakers 
introduced a resolution warning that ``if left unaddressed, the 
consequences of a changing climate have the potential to adversely 
impact all Americans.'' So this is a very big deal, that 17 Republicans 
in the party financed by the coal and oil billionaires, who have really 
taken complete control of the U.S. Senate, stood up to them and said: 
We are going to speak on behalf of our responsibility, as citizens of 
the United States of America, to protect our citizens from the assault 
on our farming and our forestry and our fishing from climate 
disruption. I praise those 17 for having done so. It is a powerful, 
bipartisan step in the right direction of championing the cause of all 
Americans--and for that matter, the entire planet.
  Question No. 3: In July of this year, California extended its cap-
and-trade program to which year? Did it extend it for just a couple of 
years to 2020 or to the year 2025, 2030, or 2035? How long did 
California lay this vision into the future? Lock in your answers.
  The answer is 2030. The program would have otherwise expired in 2020, 
so they extended it another decade. It was basically a statement of 
confidence that the program that they laid out, that they have in place 
now, is working and deserves extension. It is the only program of its 
kind in the country, and it is the second largest in the world.
  Under this vision, this new and expanded program, California will cut 
its emissions of carbon dioxide 40 percent from its 1990 levels, 
despite having a vastly expanded economy. That is a powerful vision and 
a vision we need to extend through completely eliminating the burning 
of fossil fuels in the next three decades.
  Question No. 4: How many acres of our citizen-owned--that is, our 
Federal--fossil fuels were leased to industry as of October 2016? Had 
we leased out 30 million acres of Federal land for the extraction of 
fossil fuels or 45 million or 53 million or 67 million? Any of these is 
really a vast amount of what we own as citizens. Lock in your answers.
  The answer is at the top end of the spectrum--67 million acres. What 
this means is that for years and even decades into the future, we have 
already contracted for a vast amount of fossil fuels to be extracted 
from our citizen-owned lands. These extractions add to the problem 
facing rural America and the impact on our farmers and our fishermen 
and our forests. That area which has been leased out for the extraction 
of fossil fuels, which, as citizens, you and I own, is the size of 
Colorado--a vast sea of fossil fuel extraction leases on public lands. 
It shows the dire need to pass the Keep It in the Ground Act.
  The only responsible thing for us to do is to not do any more leases 
of our citizen-owned oil or coal or gas. The responsible thing to do, 
the right thing to do, especially as we work in partnership with the 
world, is to say no new leases that expand this 67 million acre number.
  Now let's turn to Question No. 5. Which U.S. community was the first 
to make a decision to divest all of its oil and gas stocks because of 
the impact of oil and gas on destroying our Nation? Was it Cooperstown, 
NY; Salem, OR; Lawrence, KS; or Walla Walla, WA? Lock in your answers.
  The answer is Cooperstown, NY. There is quite an interesting story 
behind this, a remarkable story. At the center of the story is a man 
named Louis Allstadt. Mr. Allstadt is a retired ExxonMobil executive. 
At one point, he managed all of Mobil Oil's exploration in the United 
States, Canada, and Latin America, so he knew the oil industry, the 
fossil fuel industry, inside-out from the very top level.
  After retiring, he ran for town trustee in Cooperstown. As a town 
trustee, he then spearheaded an effort for Cooperstown to become the 
first town in the United States to divest its oil and gas stocks. Mr. 
Allstadt summed it up this way: ``You don't just keep driving your car 
when you see a cliff ahead.'' Well said. Yet so many in this Chamber 
are determined to drive the car over the cliff.
  From the high reaches of the executive suites of Exxon Mobil, Mr. 
Allstadt could see the damage being done to the planet by the continued 
burning of fossil fuels. He saw the absolute need to stop, and he took 
a principled, moral stand on behalf of us all.
  Thank you, Mr. Allstadt, for doing that and setting that example. It 
is one we should all pay attention to. Every city council and every 
mayor across the country should ask the question: Should we follow Mr. 
Allstadt's example, the example of Cooperstown, NY? Because if we 
continue in the direction we are going, we will do fabulous amounts of 
damage from which we will not easily recover--if we can recover at all.
  So there you have it, folks--episode 6 of the ``Senate Climate 
Disruption Quiz.'' These questions were ripped from the headlines. 
Facts on the ground are changing fast as climate disruption increases 
and communities across the globe respond. We are racing the clock, and 
we have no time to spare. So stay engaged in the fight.
  In the near future, I will bring you episode 7 of the ``Senate 
Climate Disruption Quiz.''
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.