[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 187 (Wednesday, November 28, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7174-S7175]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Climate Change
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you to my colleagues Senator Markey and Senator Whitehouse. I
am pleased to join both of you, who have done such a tremendous job in
leading on this issue of trying to get everyone to wake up to the
challenges that we face in climate change and what that is going to
mean, not just for us in New England but for people across this country
and across the globe.
Maybe the reason we feel so passionate about this is because we see
it. We already see it happening in New England, as my colleagues
detailed so well. We are on the cutting edge of these changes. You
don't have to have lived in New Hampshire for very long to have seen
what is happening as a result of climate change.
Last week, the U.S. Global Change Research Program released its
fourth National Climate Assessment, and that details the profound
effect climate change is having and is going to continue to have on the
environment, on the economy, and on our public health. The report makes
it abundantly clear that every American--every American--is affected by
climate change and that the threat it poses will get worse unless we
take action.
As I said, people in my State of New Hampshire have no doubt about
the reality of climate change because we have been seeing it for years
now. We have been experiencing it.
The steady increase in temperatures and the rise in annual
precipitation are already affecting New Hampshire's tourism and outdoor
recreation economy. Each year, hundreds of thousands of sportsmen and
wildlife watchers come to New Hampshire to enjoy our mountains, our
lakes, and all of our beautiful natural resources. The outdoor
economy--hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation--contributes more
than $4 billion to New Hampshire's economy each year, but this is
threatened now because rising temperatures are shortening our fall
foliage season, and they are negatively affecting our snow- and ice-
related winter recreation activities. That includes skiing,
snowboarding, and snowmobiling. The New Hampshire ski industry employs
17,000 Granite Staters, and the New Hampshire Department of
Environmental Services warns that these jobs are threatened by climate
change.
New Hampshire's--in fact, all of New England's fall foliage is at
risk. This is climate modeling by the Union of Concerned Scientists
that shows that by the end of this century, New Hampshire's summers
will feel like present-day summers in North Carolina, 700 miles to our
south. While the Presiding Officer certainly understands that this
works great for North Carolina, it changes dramatically what happens in
New Hampshire.
What this shows is that--this red color, which are the maple and
beech and birch trees--the maple trees in particular that produce our
maple syrup--that make such a difference in our fall foliage--those are
going to be gone by 2070--by the end of this century. All of this red
that we are seeing throughout--from Pennsylvania, New York, across
Northern New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine--that will all be gone by
the end of this century.
Again, this underscores that if we fail to act on climate change, we
are going to see a steep loss of jobs and revenue. That is going to
affect our outdoor recreation industry, and it is going to affect our
traditional maple syrup industry.
New Hampshire produces more than 100,000 gallons of maple syrup
annually. That makes it the third largest maple syrup producer in the
United States. Maple syrup is entirely dependent on weather conditions.
We are already seeing the impact these changes are having because as we
get into spring, the temperatures are not getting cold enough at night
to make the sap run in the maple trees, and during the day, we are not
seeing the fluctuation in temperatures that allows maple syrup to be
produced.
The National Climate Assessment notes that the changing climate is
putting more and more stress on sugar maples. If we fail to act on
climate change, this could destroy New Hampshire's multimillion-dollar
maple syrup industry.
Now, it is also affecting our wildlife. It is affecting their
habitats.
Probably one of the most iconic symbols of New Hampshire is our
moose. Yet they are being threatened. Because
[[Page S7175]]
of milder winters due to climate change, ticks and other insects aren't
dying off, which leads to infestation on our wildlife and on our trees.
According to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, the estimated
moose population in New Hampshire has decreased by more than 50 percent
since the mid-1990s.
That story is even worse for moose calves. A recent study by
researchers at the University of New Hampshire found that winter ticks
are the primary cause of an unprecedented 70-percent death rate of
calves over a 3-year period. On average--and we can see this
dramatically in these photos--47,000 ticks were found on each calf that
was monitored during this study.
To quote Dr. Peter Pekins, a professor at UNH who is a lead author on
the study, ``the iconic moose is rapidly becoming the new poster child
for climate change in parts of the Northeast.''
We are going to see moose totally disappearing from the Northeast--in
fact, from all of the northern part of the United States, if we don't
take action.
As my colleagues have said, global warming is also impacting our
fishing industry. New Hampshire may have a small coast--18 miles of
coastline--but we have an important commercial fishing industry that
contributes $106 million to the State and supports 5,000 jobs.
Unfortunately, because of climate change, the average annual
temperatures in the waters off of southern New England have increased
by about 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit since the 1970s. This change in
temperature is driving some of New England's most iconic fisheries
northward and further out to sea.
Lobsters, for example, have migrated 40 miles northward to the Gulf
of Maine in the last decade. As we can see from this illustration, it
shows the red areas where we used to have lobster until the 1970s. They
have totally disappeared, and those lobsters have moved north of Cape
Cod. They are moving into northern Maine and up into Canada. They are
totally gone from the New England Sound. That is devastating to
Southern New Hampshire fishing communities where lobster is their
livelihood.
Ironically, as I think Senator Markey said so well, the lobster
migration has contributed to an overabundance in the Gulf of Maine, and
that has caused price volatility in the lobster market. So we have seen
dramatic fluctuations which have also affected our fishermen.
Of course, the impacts on human health have been dramatic because
people are suffering from the impacts of climate change. Rising
temperatures increase the number of air pollution action days. They
increase pollen and mold levels, and they increase allergies. All of
these things are dangerous to some of our most vulnerable populations,
including children. In New Hampshire we have one of the highest
childhood asthma rates in the country because of air pollution that has
been moving primarily from the Midwest but now is being exacerbated by
climate change.
The elderly are affected, as well as those with allergies and those
with chronic respiratory conditions.
Rising temperatures also facilitate the spread of insectborne
illnesses, such as Lyme disease, which have been a huge factor for
people in New Hampshire and across New England.
Now, because New Hampshire and the Northeastern States and New
England have been experiencing major negative impacts from climate
change, we have been working to reduce carbon emissions to try and
transition to a more energy-efficient and clean-energy economy. New
Hampshire is one of nine Northeastern States that participates in the
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, since the program launched
in 2009. Massachusetts and Rhode Island are also participants. But
carbon emissions in RGGI States have fallen by 51 percent. So in less
than a decade, because of RGGI, we have seen a 51-percent reduction in
carbon emissions.
In addition, customers in RGGI States have saved an estimated $773
million on their energy bills, and billions more are expected. That is
thanks not just to renewables but to energy efficiency. I am a big
believer that energy efficiency is also one of the most important ways
we can reduce our carbon emissions. Also, the wholesale price of energy
has fallen. So we can see on average 6.4 percent and $773 million in
energy savings.
So climate change--as everyone who has spoken about this evening has
pointed out--is probably the greatest environmental challenge the world
has ever faced, but we can do something about it if we take action.
Through smart energy policies and through thoughtful conservation
measures, we can stop climate change from reaching dangerous,
irreversible levels, but we have to act now.
So I urge my colleagues and I urge this administration to recognize
the economic and environmental imperative of addressing climate change
before it is too late.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.