[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 187 (Wednesday, November 28, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7165-S7167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Climate Change

  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I was happy to welcome back our colleagues 
this week from Thanksgiving and come back to work. A lot of stuff needs 
to be done and have some fresh energy and maybe some fresh ideas, but I 
hope my colleagues were able to get home for Thanksgiving and spend 
time with their families. I like to say the thing I like about 
Thanksgiving--it is my favorite holiday, and people ask why. It

[[Page S7166]]

has my six favorite F words: family, faith, friends, food, fun, 
football, among others. What is not to like about that--especially 
football that was played in Columbus, OH, on Saturday afternoon. I hope 
all Americans were able to enjoy some combination of those things over 
the holiday weekend.
  You may be like me and many others across the country who took the 
long weekend to unplug a bit by turning off our phone, maybe turning 
off cable news, too, so we could reconnect with loved ones, but while 
many Americans were recharging--enjoying a good meal with family and 
friends, maybe watching a football game or doing some early Christmas 
shopping--some major news broke over the weekend.
  Last Friday, on the day after Thanksgiving, 13 Federal agencies 
released a nearly 1,700-page report highlighting the devastating 
impacts climate change will have over the next 80 years if we do not 
change course now. The report was a dire warning to our Nation and to 
our planet but one we might have easily missed while celebrating the 
holiday with family and friends, and I am sure a lot of people did miss 
it.
  I suspect the fact that this major report was released on Friday of a 
holiday weekend was not an accident. After all, the report, which was 
put together by experts from over a dozen agencies within the Trump 
administration, spells out the very real and very serious consequences 
of climate change--a global crisis that our President has repeatedly 
called a hoax. In fact, just yesterday the President said he is not 
among the so-called believers who see climate change as a pressing 
problem.
  Luckily, we don't have to just blindly believe in climate change. We 
can look at the facts. Despite the Trump administration's best efforts 
to bury this report on a Friday afternoon, Friday evening, of a holiday 
weekend, those of us based in reality are going to make sure the clear 
facts in it are broadcast far and wide.
  This particular report took not a year, not 2 years but 3 years to 
write. It was written by more than 300 Federal experts, non-Federal 
experts as well, who volunteered their time. It was only finalized 
after an extensive public outreach and interagency review process. This 
report wasn't thrown together to push any agenda. It is a scientific 
report, and its conclusions should be important to every person, not 
just living in my State or the 49 or 50 States but everybody who lives 
on this planet because it has implications for every single one of us.
  I would like to take a few minutes this afternoon to go over some of 
the highlights of the report. Why don't we start with extreme weather. 
People ask: What do you mean by extreme weather? I mean, measuring 
rainfall by feet, not by inches. I am talking about fires in States on 
the west coast, especially where the amount of land being consumed by 
the fires is almost the size of my State of Delaware. I am talking 
about the number of 500-year floods that are occurring every other year 
or every year. I am talking about the number of category 5 hurricanes 
that we have now compared to what it was 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago.
  According to the latest report--which was, again, released by the 
Trump administration--climate change will continue to increase and 
intensify extreme weather events in the years to come. Over the last 3 
years alone, extreme weather events have cost the United States nearly 
$400 billion in damages due to storm surges, due to flooding, due to 
wildfires, and due to crop freezes and crop droughts. So it has cost 
the U.S. Treasury $400 billion, and it comes at a time when our budget 
deficits are going up. The budget deficit picked up between the last 
administration and this administration, I think, somewhere--maybe $500 
billion--a huge amount of money. Last year's deficit on this 
administration was, as I recall, maybe $750 billion. I am told the 
expectation for the budget deficit in this year is maybe as much as 
$950 billion. It wasn't that long ago that the budget for our whole 
country was less than that.
  Why is $400 billion in damages from extreme weather important? We 
don't have the money. We are borrowing this money, and these young 
pages and their children will get to pay for that someday. That is not 
fair.
  More powerful and more frequent extreme weather events will increase 
that figure exponentially and also have far-reaching impacts on people 
in every corner of this country and well beyond the borders of our 
country.
  Say someone happens to live in the Southwest. In 2017, Phoenix, AZ, 
set a new record of nearly 200 days with temperatures of at least 90 
degrees Fahrenheit. Think about that, Phoenix, AZ, 200 days with 
temperatures of at least 90 degrees Fahrenheit in 2017. By 2090, 
Phoenix could be dealing with an additional 45 days--another month and 
a half--every year, which would be about 245 days, which would be about 
8 months out of the year where the temperature in Phoenix is 80 or well 
above 90. That is another 6 weeks of extreme heat in addition to the 
city's already recordbreaking temperatures.
  Let's say somebody lives in the Southeast. Let's take Charleston, SC, 
for example. Charleston, SC, experiences 38 days of tidal flooding 
every year. By 2045, the city could experience 180 days of tidal 
flooding every year--nearly five times the flooding that occurs today.
  Let's say maybe somebody lives out West. By 2050, wildfire seasons 
could burn up to six times more forest area every year. I will say that 
again. That is hard to believe. By 2050, wildfire seasons could burn up 
to six times more forest area every year. We have all seen the historic 
and horrific devastation that fires in California have caused just this 
year alone--in fact, in the last several weeks alone, tragic fires.
  California is a big State. I used to live there when I was in the 
Navy. Sometimes it is difficult to put into context just how big and 
destructive these wildfires are. We have a poster here that I want to 
refer to as a wildfire poster: This is Washington, DC, and the counties 
adjacent to Washington, DC. It gives a little bit of context. Here is 
the area that the recent Camp Fire in California burned in relation to 
a city that all of us who serve here are pretty familiar with, 
Washington, DC, and the suburbs of this city. The Camp Fire burned an 
area over three times greater than Washington, DC. That is how big it 
was. That is just one fire, in just one State, in 1 year. Imagine what 
we are going to be facing with up to six times more forest areas 
burning every single year.
  Now, if the extreme weather conclusions don't make some of our 
colleagues jump to action, maybe the information about the health 
impacts of climate change will cause them to take some notice. This 
report makes clear that increases in ozone and particle pollution will 
result in an additional $26 billion every year in healthcare costs 
across the country.
  Here is a particularly startling statistic: Extreme hot and cold 
temperatures in 49 U.S. cities are projected to result in more than 
9,000 additional premature deaths per year. That is not in a far-off 
developing nation. That is 9,000 more people dying right here at home 
in the USA, but if our colleagues are still not swayed by this year's 
impacts to American health, maybe they will be moved by the impact that 
climate change will have on our country's already aging infrastructure.
  I think this is probably highway transportation infrastructure, if I 
am not mistaken. If we do not act, we can expect up to $26 billion in 
damages to our roadways and our railways every year due to climate 
change--$26 billion in damages to our roadways and our railways every 
year due to climate change.
  We have a poster here. There is a bridge. I am not sure where, but it 
is one of many bridges. We have thousands of bridges around this 
Nation. Increases in rainfall in inland areas--not on the coast but in 
the middle of our country, the heartland--will threaten up to 6,000 
bridges by the year 2090.
  Here is a statistic we will not be able to avoid. It deals with sea 
level rise. Since 1993, sea levels have risen by 3 inches. What we are 
looking at by 2100, according to folks who worked for the last 3 years 
on this Federal report from 13 Federal Agencies, we could be looking at 
as much as 6 feet in sea level rise. If we do nothing, by 2100, we 
could see sea levels rise by up to 6 feet. Those of us who lived 
through Superstorm Sandy saw the absolute destruction that can be 
caused by 3 inches of sea level rise. It is almost unimaginable to 
think about nearly 70 inches.

[[Page S7167]]

  Maybe that is still not alarming enough to get some people's 
attention. Perhaps the impacts on our farmers and ranchers might sway 
my colleagues. Let me mention something in that regard. According to 
this report--the same Federal report--more frequent and intense rains, 
combined with rising temperatures, are likely to reduce agriculture 
production in the Midwest to 1980 levels. Roll back the clock to the 
levels of production in 1980 in the Midwest--that is where we were.
  I have a corn and soybean poster here. When it comes to crops that 
agricultural communities depend on, such as corn and soybeans, which 
are big in my State, farmers could see reduced yields of up to 25 
percent.
  Maybe some of our colleagues don't come from States with a large 
agricultural sector, where it is important. Perhaps an economic impact 
might move them to action.
  Climate change could mean up to $500 billion in economic losses every 
year by 2090. Let me say that again. Climate change could mean up to 
$500 billion in economic losses every year by 2090. Additionally, 
almost 2 billion labor hours are projected to be lost by 2090 due to 
the impacts of extreme temperatures. That alone would cost an 
additional $160 billion in lost wages.
  Here is a stark statistic: Climate change could slash up to 10 
percent of our gross domestic product by 2100. Let's put that into 
context. Ten years ago, when we fell into the great recession--worst 
recession since the Great Depression--we had half of the losses in 
gross domestic product that we are looking at from climate change that 
goes unchecked. According to this report, climate change could slash up 
to 10 percent of our gross domestic product by 2100. That is more than 
double the losses of the great recession.
  Many of our colleagues were here during the great recession. We saw 
what happened. Unemployment was over 10 percent. Banks basically 
stopped lending. Access to capital was greatly impeded. Trade slowed 
down dramatically. It was a miserable time. We fought very hard to get 
out of it. We are now in the ninth longest running economic expansion 
in the history of the country, and stuff like this is not going to help 
extend that recovery. To refuse to act would be to willingly usher in 
an economic calamity twice as painful as the great recession.
  The numbers and facts don't lie. The reality of climate change is 
scary, especially for coastal States like mine--the lowest lying State 
in our country. Our State is sinking instead of rising.
  The facts that this report so clearly lays out affect all of us. It 
doesn't matter whether you are from a coastal State, like some of us, 
or from a landlocked State, like our Presiding Officer--if you care 
about public health or the environment or if you care about our economy 
or national security, this report says that every sector of our economy 
and every person living in this country will be affected by climate 
change if we do nothing.
  As I see it, we have a couple of options. We can take up this fight 
and get serious about addressing and adapting to climate change, or we 
can stick our heads in the sand, as some would do, ignore the facts, 
and do nothing, dooming our children and our grandchildren to live in a 
world that is less healthy, less safe, less stable, and less 
economically vibrant. I say, let's fight. My hope is that our 
colleagues will join us and not fight against one another but fight 
against this threat we all face.
  We have one planet. President Macron from France was down the hall 
about 2 years ago and spoke to a joint session of Congress. There is no 
plan B. We have the only planet. It is the one we have been given to 
take care of by our Heavenly Father, and we need to take that 
responsibility seriously.
  All right. That is the bad news. That is a lot of bad news in 10 
minutes. Before I yield to my friend from Florida, I will say this: 
There is some good news too. The good news is, there are ways to 
address these challenges--the economic challenges, the agricultural 
challenges, the flooding challenges, the temperature challenges. There 
is a way to do it. Among the smart ways to do it is to reduce the 
emission of carbon in this country.
  The good news is, we can do that by adding and creating jobs. Two 
hundred million people went to work in this country today--roughly 200 
million. Three million people went to work in jobs where they are 
involved in renewable energy, energy conservation--things that help 
save our planet and preserve the quality of life on our planet. There 
are a lot more jobs we can add in that kind of work, including building 
vehicles that run on batteries--and we are making great progress--and 
vehicles that run on hydrogen and fuel cells. The only waste product 
from those vehicles is water. You can drink it.
  There are ways to address all these threats in a way that is 
economically viable. We don't have to choose between all this doom and 
gloom and a strong economy; we can address the doom and gloom and add a 
lot of jobs, and we ought to do this. It is going to be a win-win. We 
ought to seize the day.
  I thank my colleague from Florida for his patience with me here 
today. I don't know if I will have a chance to stand here this close 
with him again before he prepares to head off into the sunset. He and I 
were privileged to serve together in the House. He was at one time 
treasurer and insurance commissioner of his State, and I was treasurer 
of Delaware. We walked the path together for a long time, and he has 
been a great servant of the people of Florida for many years. I have 
always been proud to stand next to him, and I am especially proud 
today.
  I am happy to yield to my friend from Florida.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, the subject the Senator from Delaware 
speaks of--climate change especially--affects my State of Florida, as 
we are ground zero with so many of the consequences of climate change--
the sea level rise. I will be addressing that topic within the next 
couple of days. I have addressed that problem over and over, but I want 
to give a concluding speech on that topic.