[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 186 (Tuesday, November 27, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7136-S7138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENATE RESOLUTION 708--EXPRESSING THE NEED FOR BOLD CLIMATE ACTION IN
RESPONSE TO THE RELEASE OF THE UNITED NATIONS REPORT ENTITLED ``GLOBAL
WARMING OF 1.5 C, AN IPCC SPECIAL REPORT ON THE IMPACTS OF GLOBAL
WARMING OF 1.5 C ABOVE PRE-INDUSTRIAL LEVELS AND RELATED GLOBAL
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSION PATHWAYS, IN THE CONTEXT OF STRENGTHENING THE
GLOBAL RESPONSE TO THE THREAT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT, AND EFFORTS TO ERADICATE POVERTY'' AND THE FOURTH NATIONAL
CLIMATE ASSESSMENT REPORT ENTITLED ``VOLUME II: IMPACTS, RISKS, AND
ADAPTATION IN THE UNITED STATES'' BY THE UNITED STATES GLOBAL CHANGE
RESEARCH PROGRAM
Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. Markey, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Van Hollen,
Mr. Udall, Mr. Blumenthal, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Booker, Ms. Hirono, Ms.
Smith, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Wyden, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Schatz, Mrs.
Feinstein, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Reed, Mrs.
Gillibrand, Ms. Cantwell, Ms. Harris, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Hassan, and
Mr. Bennet) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Environment and Public Works:
S. Res. 708
Whereas, on October 8, 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change released a report entitled ``Global Warming of
1.5 C, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global
warming of 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels and related
global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of
strengthening the global response to the threat of climate
change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate
poverty'' (referred to in this preamble as the ``IPCC
report'') in response to an invitation from the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;
Whereas the IPCC report was written by 91 authors and
review editors from 40 countries, including the United
States, and was reviewed by thousands of expert and
government reviewers from around the world;
Whereas, on November 23, 2018, the United States Global
Change Research Program delivered its congressionally
mandated Fourth Annual Climate Assessment report entitled
``Volume II: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United
States'' (referred to in this preamble as the ``NCA
report'');
Whereas the NCA report represents the findings of over 300
Federal and non-Federal experts and was reviewed by the 13
Federal agencies that comprise the United States Global
Change Research Program;
Whereas the IPCC report found that--
(1) increases in global temperature above pre-industrial
levels are overwhelmingly the result of anthropogenic sources
of atmospheric carbon and other greenhouse gases;
(2) the last 50-year period in the Northern Hemisphere had
the warmest average temperature of any 50-year period in the
last 500 years;
(3) Earth is already experiencing the consequences of 1
degree Celsius warming above pre-industrial levels in the
form of extreme weather, rising sea levels, longer and more
severe droughts, diminishing Arctic sea ice, and diminished
glacial and snow cover, among other impacts;
(4) as the global temperature continues to rise, the
impacts of a warming atmosphere increase in severity;
(5) the difference between warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius
and 2 degrees Celsius is substantial, and limiting warming to
1.5 degrees Celsius is affordable, feasible, and necessary to
protect people from the worst impacts of climate change,
including extreme heat, drought, floods, and increased
poverty and instability;
(6) compared to warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius, warming at
or above 2 degrees Celsius could--
(A) result in a global sea level rise of an additional 10
centimeters and substantially more summers without Arctic sea
ice;
(B) worsen impacts to terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and
marine ecosystems; and
(C) increase the risk of species loss and extinctions;
(7) warming at or above 2 degrees Celsius could also lead
to--
(A) a loss of greater than 99 percent of all coral reefs on
Earth; and
(B) mass migration from regions most affected by
atmospheric changes;
(8) at a rise in temperature of 1.5 degrees Celsius, the
global population exposed to water stress could be 50 percent
lower than if the global temperature rises by 2 degrees
Celsius;
(9) the number of people exposed to extreme heat waves
would rise substantially with an increase in global
temperature of 2 degrees Celsius rather than 1.5 degrees
Celsius;
(10) at current rates of greenhouse gas emissions, Earth
will warm by 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels
by 2040; and
(11) to avoid the effects of a rise in global temperature
of 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2040, net global greenhouse gas
emissions must be reduced by 45 percent below 2010 levels by
2030 and 100 percent below 2010 levels by 2050;
Whereas the NCA report found that, in the United States--
(1) rising sea levels caused by a changing climate already
threaten infrastructure and ecosystems; and
(2) warming at or above 2 degrees Celsius will cause--
(A) over $500,000,000,000 annually in lost economic output
from crop failure, lost labor, and damages related to extreme
weather;
(B) crop yields of corn and soybeans to fall an average of
15 percent;
(C) wildfires to burn at least twice as much forest area
annually;
(D) an additional 2,000 premature deaths annually from
higher temperatures in the Midwest; and
(E) sea levels to continue to rise, threatening public
infrastructure and coastal real estate valued at
$1,000,000,000,000;
Whereas the United States is--
(1) a global leader;
(2) a member of the global community and is affected by
climate impacts such as those outlined in the IPCC report;
and
(3) already suffering from the impacts of climate change;
Whereas it is possible and economically beneficial to
transition to a low-carbon emission economy that would not
contribute to global climate change and would result in
sustainable economic growth; and
Whereas the Government of the United States has failed to
enact policies to effectively transition to a low-carbon
emission economy or to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in
line with scientific recommendations to reduce global
temperature changes: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes and accepts the findings of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in the report of
October 8, 2018, entitled ``Global Warming of 1.5 C, an IPCC
special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 C
above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas
emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global
response to the threat of climate change, sustainable
development, and efforts to eradicate poverty'';
(2) recognizes and accepts the findings of the Fourth
National Climate Assessment report entitled ``Volume II:
Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States'' by the
United States Global Change Research Program; and
(3) expresses that it is the sense of the Senate that--
(A) reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with the
recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change and the United States Global Change Research Program
would help avoid the most devastating climate change impacts
and would be good for all people of the United States; and
(B) immediate action by Congress and the executive branch
is needed to help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by
45 percent below 2010 levels by 2030 and 100 percent below
2010 levels by 2050.
Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, the most important words of our
Constitution are the first three: ``We the People.'' These words were
written in supersized font so that anyone standing across the room
would know exactly what the vision of our Constitution is all about:
government of, by, and for the people, as Abraham Lincoln put it--not a
nation by and for the privileged, not a nation by and for the powerful,
but for the people.
Unfortunately, we see too much today of our government being taken
over by the powerful. We see the use of gerrymandering, which has
totally corrupted the distribution of power in the House of
Representatives just down that hallway. We see the use of voter
suppression in State after State. My colleague from Illinois just
pointed out that a man nominated to be a judge here in the United
States of America was a key advocate, a key participant, a key
architect of voter suppression. That should deeply trouble every Member
of this body because if you believe in the vision of our Constitution,
you
[[Page S7137]]
would be a full-on advocate for voter empowerment, not voter
suppression.
We see this played out in all kinds of different policies. We saw it
played out in 2017 when the powerful drove through this body a $1.5
trillion theft of Federal resources and distributed it to the richest
Americans. That is what happens in corrupt countries far overseas. But
it happened right here, right in this Chamber--a theft of $1.5 trillion
out of our Treasury, distributed through that tax bill to the richest
Americans. I can tell my colleagues after having done 360 townhalls in
my home state, 220 of them in very red counties, no one has ever come
up to me--not from the left or the right or the center--and said: I
have a great idea. Let's raid the Federal Treasury and distribute it to
the richest people among us. Yet that is what we see with government by
and for the powerful, as demonstrated right now, here in this U.S.
Senate and the House of Representatives down the hall.
I will tell you where else we see it. We see it in the neglect of our
responsibility to care for our beautiful blue-green planet. All across
the land, we are seeing the devastating consequences of carbon
pollution and the heat that it is trapping and the consequences that is
driving. Yet here in this Chamber, on this most important
responsibility, we do absolutely nothing. In fact, we make it worse,
with the majority serving simply as the implementers of whatever
version of fossil fuel special favor, special interest, powerful
interest policy they can possibly think up--more and more for fossil
fuels, more and more damage to our country.
This, certainly, is a situation we are in where we are seeing our
land pillaged and polluted. That is a battle we have been waging for
many years, but this last week we had a powerful reminder of just how
much trouble we are in. Just last week--last Friday--the Trump
administration released the ``Fourth National Climate Assessment,'' and
what it has to say is frightening. It is shocking. Realize that this is
not some environmental group; this is not some leftwing think tank;
this is the Trump administration releasing this report.
This is what it has to say. It says that our climate is changing,
that its impacts are being felt all around us because of human activity
and the carbon pollution being released into the atmosphere from the
burning of fossil fuels. This report was written by 13 Federal
agencies, and it reiterates this point time and again, and it has the
following sentence: ``Earth's climate is now changing faster than at
any point in the history of modern civilization, primarily as a result
of human activities.''
This is the statement from the Trump administration's 13 agencies
that came together to alert us to exactly where we stand.
What does this mean in real terms? Well, it means we are going to see
many more extremely hot days and far fewer cold days. We are going to
see more extreme weather events, like the recordbreaking heat waves,
like the extensive wildfires out West, like the intensified and deadly
hurricanes that have been crashing on our shores.
We are also going to see the impact in our economy. The report
estimates that within our children's lifetime, climate chaos will cost
our Nation upward of one-half trillion dollars each year in crop
damage, in lost labor, and in extreme weather damage to public
infrastructure and that we will lose another $1 trillion each year in
lost wealth and real estate along our coasts because of rising sea
levels and because of more powerful hurricanes--hurricanes that remind
us of Michael, Harvey, Irma, and Maria over the last 2 years.
We will also see an impact on winter tourism because of lower
snowpack in the mountains, which means less skiing, snowboarding, and
snowmobiling.
Back home in Oregon, when the snow level drops, we see a dramatic
drop in snow tourism. We don't just think of it as tourism; we also
think of it as our joy of being able to participate in these activities
in our beautiful Cascade Mountains. Of course, that smaller snowpack
means warmer, smaller streams--not too good for fishing--and it
certainly means less water for irrigation.
The report--again, the Trump administration report--estimates that in
parts of the Midwest, farmers will be able to produce less than 75
percent of the corn they produce today, with a similar impact on
soybean yield, and corn and soybeans make up the vast majority of the
127 million acres of the Midwest's agricultural production. That area,
in fact, is one of the most intense areas of agricultural production in
the world, responsible for $76 billion per year in economic activity.
So when it takes a big hit, the economy of the Midwest takes a big hit.
That means a lot of farmers losing their farms.
Then we have the health impacts that are laid out in this report--
again, the Trump administration report. It lays out that there will be
an estimated 2,000 additional premature deaths per year from extreme
temperatures and unsafe breathing conditions. Within our child's
lifetime, the report says, Chicago could resemble Phoenix, with up to 2
months of over-100-degree days, and scorching temperatures could make
Phoenix practically uninhabitable for up to 5 months of the year.
Human health will also be affected with an expansion of mosquito-
borne and tick-borne illnesses and water-borne disease, as well as
ailments related to air contamination from wildfire smoke. This isn't
just some future challenge; it is a challenge we have today. In both of
the last two summers, a good portion of my State was covered by smoke
from wildfires, and the result was that a lot of people had breathing
difficulties and more intensified breathing difficulties, and a good
number ended up in the hospital. A lot of asthma was triggered by that
smoke. A lot of people cancelled their outdoor activities during the
time of year when we most value the opportunity to be on the beach, in
the mountains, on the hiking trails, and at the lakes.
Certainly, we saw economic consequences. Many of our outdoor concerts
and venues, including festivals, had to cancel performances. I talked
to the owner of a furniture store who said that even he was impacted
because of the taint from the smoke smell. Certainly, our wine
producers were concerned about what that might do to the taste of
Oregon's fantastic pinot noir--the world's best, the best on the
planet--pinot noir wine.
So who will bear the brunt of these health emergencies? Is it the
powerful and privileged, who are driving the policies to keep burning
as much fossil fuels as they possibly can to turn their
multimillionaires into multibillionaires? No. The powerful and
privileged, living in their gated communities, with their air-filtered
and air-conditioned mansions, will protect themselves. They will move
to where the impacts are the least. Who will bear the brunt? The young
and the old, whose immune systems are more susceptible to health
problems; low-income and middle-income Americans, who can't afford to
move to where there are fewer consequences, whose jobs are most likely
to be impacted by the economic consequences of climate chaos.
I know President Trump wanted to ignore his own report and put it out
on Black Friday because he figured that the day after Thanksgiving is
the day when the fewest Americans would pay attention. That is why I am
on the floor right now to draw attention to this report, the Trump
report, on the devastating consequences of continuing to burn fossil
fuels.
Everything we saw laid out in this ``National Climate Assessment''
from the Trump administration was echoed by the international report
from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that was released
last month. That report summarized that within the next 12 years--we
are not talking 12 centuries or 12 decades but 12 years--we are going
to start feeling intensified effects of climate chaos on top of what we
have already experienced. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
report was put together by 91 researchers in 41 countries. They
summarized that we have already passed the 1-degree centigrade warming
mark, which is almost 2 degrees Fahrenheit. They said we are well on
our way to the 2-degree mark, which means catastrophic climate chaos.
If you were in the middle of the fires in Oregon, if you were in the
middle of the fire in Paradise, CA, if you were in the path of
Hurricanes Irma, Maria, or Michael, you might already say we have
catastrophic climate chaos, but
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they are using the term to describe a significant amplification from
what we are seeing right now. They are ringing a five-alarm fire bell
to say: This is the moment to wake up.
Wake up, America. You are a democratic republic. You are supposed to
be able to respond to the challenges that come before us. And we have a
massive challenge: devastating consequences of carbon pollution. You
must stop burning carbon. Find a path to change how we operate in
transportation, how we operate in generating electricity. Address this
issue. Hold every hearing, summon every scientist, ring every bell, and
get to work. That is what these two reports are saying to us.
So, colleagues, if you are sitting here asleep at the switch, you are
not doing your job. If you are sitting here advocating for the fossil
fuel industry, you are worse than not doing your job--you are helping
to damage the land across this great Nation for all Americans. So wake
up and get to work.
This isn't a Democratic issue or a Republican issue, a blue county or
red county. In fact, the biggest impacts are felt in our red counties,
where the foundation of the economy is farming, fishing, and forestry,
and every one of those is being impacted by this effect. So we, as
representatives in our democratic Republic, with our ``We the People''
Constitution--it is our job to operate for the people, not for the
powerful, not for the privileged.
I will be introducing a resolution that recognizes and accepts the
findings of these reports, acknowledges the expertise from 91
scientists in 41 countries and 300 scientists in 13 Federal agencies,
the combined efforts of these two reports that say that we are in
trouble and we must act, and we must act in partnership with the world.
We need to act here. We need to say to Trudeau of Canada: You want to
be a climate leader. You claim you are a climate leader. Why are you
tripling the size of the pipeline that serves the tar sands?
We need to say to the leadership of Australia: Your outback is on
fire during your winter. Your coral reefs are dying. The Great Barrier
Reef has died in the last 10 years. Why are you doubling down on coal?
We need to say to Japan: Don't base your energy future on liquefied
natural gas, which is simply another fossil fuel strategy.
We need to say to Germany: Why do you want this gas pipeline from
Russia as a foundation for your energy future?
Let's all be in this together because if any nation acts by itself,
we can't change the course--the big course, the big picture--of the
damage carbon pollution is doing. We have to work together. That means
we now pivot and say: Let's recognize that renewable energy is now the
cheapest energy. It is less expensive to generate a kilowatt hour of
electricity from renewable energy, from solar wind, than it is from
fossil fuels. Let's not just realize that carbon is doing all this
damage; let's also recognize that the strongest economy will be built
on the cheapest energy, which is renewable energy. So we have every
reason to act.
Let's remember that we were founded as a ``we the people'' vision,
and let's honor that vision.
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