[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 188 (Thursday, November 29, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7217-S7218]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Climate Change

  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, 30 years ago, a gentleman by the name of 
Dr. James Hansen was the Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for 
Space

[[Page S7218]]

Studies. He testified to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources 
Committee that he was 99 percent certain that the year's record 
temperatures were not the result of natural variation. That was 30 
years ago. It was the first time a lead scientist drew a connection 
between human activities, the growing concentration of atmosphere 
pollutants, and a warming climate.
  This Senator was a young congressman at the time representing East 
Central Florida and Florida's Space Coast. Just 2 years prior, I had 
flown for 6 days on the 24th mission of the space shuttle. In this 
case, our orbiter was the Space Shuttle Columbia.
  Growing up on the Indian River on Florida's Atlantic coast, it is 
easy to think that nature's bounty is endless, that the sand beaches, 
the crystal clear water, the blue sky, and the warm Sun will continue 
forever. It would be like Camelot. But peering out the window back at 
the planet from the window of a spacecraft, when I looked, all of the 
Earth suddenly took on a new meaning. I realized how thin the line was 
between our protected shared home--the planet--and uninhabitable space.
  When Dr. Hansen testified about the greenhouse effect and how that 
thin layer of atmosphere was becoming polluted, it got my attention 
because I remembered looking at the rim of the Earth and seeing that 
thin film as we orbited the Earth every 90 minutes. Since his 1988 
warning, the evidence has unfortunately confirmed Dr. Hansen's 1988 
prediction.
  Extreme events in 2017 and 2018 alone included back-to-back, record 
Atlantic and gulf hurricanes and unprecedented and devastating 
wildfires. Global temperatures are rising, and so are the seas. Why? 
The extra heat is absorbed by the oceans, which cover two-thirds of the 
Earth. That extra heat, when absorbed in water, causes water to expand. 
Also, 2016 and 2017 had two of the highest global temperatures ever 
recorded since we began measuring in 1880, and 2018 is on track to be 
the fourth hottest year on record.
  Warmer air and water make the environment more hospitable to toxic 
algae blooms, mosquitos that carry deadly diseases, and things like 
poison ivy. These are three things that I think we can all agree that 
we need less of, not more.
  The oceans are warming, and they are fueling the intensification of 
hurricanes--as we saw recently with Irma and Michael--and that warming 
water is creating the conditions that bleach coral reefs and feed toxic 
algae blooms.
  My beautiful home State of Florida, which I have had the great 
privilege of serving, is ground zero for these impacts. According to 
the fourth National Climate Assessment report released by the 
administration just last week--the day after Thanksgiving--climate 
change is expected to make South Florida more vulnerable to diseases 
like the Zika virus. Florida could see more than $346 billion in lost 
property value over the course of this century. But this stretches 
beyond property values. A Florida Department of Health assessment 
determined that almost 600,000 people in South Florida are going to 
face extreme or high risk from sea level rise. Warming water, nutrient 
enrichment, overfishing, and coastal development are all contributing 
to the dire situation of one of our Nation's crown jewels--the coral 
reefs of the Florida Keys.
  The real question is, What are we going to do about it? I think there 
are three things we ought to consider.
  First, we truly cannot afford to politicize the air we breathe. The 
science is not up for debate. The greenhouse gas emissions are heating 
the atmosphere, which in turn heat our oceans, supercharging the 
hurricanes, leaving us vulnerable to drought and threatening the water 
we drink and the food we eat. Reports of political censorship or 
political interference with science--that is unacceptable and foolish. 
If we ignore the science, we do so at our peril.
  Second, I think we are going to have to stop putting so many 
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere so fast. This is called climate 
mitigation. It means that we must invest in new technology, in the 
economy of the future, things like wind and solar, electric vehicles, 
and more efficient buildings. Each one of them would have a huge impact 
in lessening the amount of derivatives of carbon that we put into the 
atmosphere.
  Third, I think we should consider that we are going to have to make 
our communities more resilient to the impacts of climate change--
climate change that is already upon us and climate change that, in the 
future, we are not going to be able to avoid. You can't just cut off 
the greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere and the warming that 
results therefrom that is already in the system.
  You talk to the scientists. There is something just beyond about 4 
degrees Fahrenheit more than the average annual global temperature--
that if it rises beyond that, there is no return.
  We have a chance, but time is of the essence. We ought to consider 
climate change adaptation. You don't have to agree with climate science 
to know that it makes sense to do that.
  I want to urge our colleagues on both sides of this aisle that 
separates Republicans from Democrats. You need to take this seriously. 
For the sake of your States and mine, for the good of our planet, for 
the good of our children, for the good of future generations, take 
climate change seriously. Listen to the experts, and come together to 
work on solutions. Instead of saying ``I am not a scientist,'' listen 
to the scientists. Don't try to censor their warnings or hide from the 
truth. Instead of saying that making changes could cost money, think 
about the cost to our economy and our society if we don't act.
  Coastal communities inundated with catastrophic flooding, midwestern 
droughts that raise food prices, and soaring health costs--these are 
some of the costs that are coming to our country--indeed, to our 
society--indeed, to the civilization of planet Earth. We must act, and 
we must do it now.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, first, I am going to commend the senior 
Senator from Florida for what he said. Throughout my career, I have 
been so impressed and so grateful for his strong voice on the 
environment. He is the only Member of this body who has seen Earth from 
space.