[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 1, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S2536]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Climate Change

  Mr. President, finally, on climate change, over the past few months, 
I have been asking Leader McConnell and my Republican colleagues three 
simple questions on climate: Do they agree that climate change is real; 
do they believe it is caused by humans; and do they believe we should 
take significant action? It seems that after repeating those questions 
over and over again, we have finally gotten some results.
  Yesterday the New York Times said in an article that some Senate 
Republicans, ``in a switch,'' are starting to cite climate change as 
the reason for some of their policy suggestions, be they support 
nuclear energy or carbon capture research. That is a first.
  The fact that we have been asking our Republican colleagues the 
question: Do you believe in climate change, and now the fact that they 
feel compelled to say yes, even though we don't agree with their 
solutions--which we may not--is progress. It is not enough progress, 
given that the globe is at stake, but at least it is a step forward, 
and we haven't seen any steps come out of our Republican friends in a 
long time.
  Hopefully, our Republican friends are finally coming around to 
realizing that climate change is real and caused by humans. Maybe they 
are looking at poll numbers and realizing that calling climate change a 
hoax looks as crazy as it sounds. Maybe they are seeing the changes in 
their own States with the climate. Whatever the reason, it is at least 
a little bit of progress--and we will have to take whatever little bit 
we can get from our normally intransigent Republican friends on this 
issue--and we welcome it.
  That said, the types of policies my Republican colleagues talk about 
when they talk about climate do a disservice to the term ``low-hanging 
fruit.'' Of course, I welcome smart and sensible solutions from 
anywhere in this Chamber, but there is a difference between getting 
serious on climate change and just mouthing the words or coming up with 
solutions that don't really solve the problem.
  Some of my colleagues have called for funding for more research on 
carbon capture, and that is a good idea. It should be part of any plan, 
but in the face of an existential threat of our time, if they support 
carbon capture but don't go bigger, don't advocate more solutions than 
that, they are not doing close to enough of what we need. We must go 
bolder. We must grapple with the central challenge--reducing carbon 
emissions as quickly as possible. The good news is, we can do that with 
affordable and reliable technologies that exist today.
  We have waited far too long to address the climate crisis in a 
serious way. We now need to act in a way that matches the urgency and 
scale of this challenge. My Republican colleagues on the other side of 
the aisle mocked the Green New Deal, but the growing youth movement 
leading the fight for the Green New Deal understands something that I 
think most Americans do: We must think big, bold, and fast, and that we 
can create jobs and economic opportunity for working families in this 
transition. We welcome the glimmer, the little, small green sprouts of 
progress, whatever we can get.
  Our Republican friends are starting to answer our pointed questions 
on climate change, but now the next step is, they have to think bigger 
and talk to the leader about pursuing real legislation instead of just 
partisan stunts.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cassidy). The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.