[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 94 (Wednesday, June 5, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S3227]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CLIMATE CHANGE

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on the climate, as I have said so many 
times, no threat poses a greater danger to our planet than that of 
climate change. The last 5 years have been the warmest on record. There 
is more carbon dioxide in the air than any point in human history. Our 
children and grandchildren will live with the consequences of the 
decisions we make today. We need all hands on deck--the Federal 
Government, local governments, municipalities, corporate leaders, 
global efforts--if we are to meet the challenges of climate change 
head-on, but for years our government has been too slow to act and more 
often than not we have done nothing or very little.
  Just yesterday, President Trump once again--not based on fact, based 
on whim, as he so often acts--voiced a dangerous skepticism about 
climate change while meeting with Prince Charles.
  Now, one of the biggest reasons for the slow progress on climate 
policy has been the oppressive grip of Big Oil, Big Gas, and Big Coal, 
on our political system. They spent untold millions to debunk climate 
science and torpedo climate legislation. One of the largest 
perpetrators has been the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which never reveals 
its donors and has acted all too often as a front for Big Oil.
  Recently, as public support for action upon climate change has grown 
even more overwhelming, the chamber is starting to sing a different 
tune. They have launched a campaign for cleaner energy sources. They 
have added a new section to their website, ``Addressing Climate 
Change.'' They now even say that, on this issue, ``inaction is not an 
option.'' Well, I could not agree more; inaction is not an option, but 
color me skeptical about the chamber.
  I hope to see the chamber follow its public stance with real action, 
but until I do, I fear this change is merely cosmetic. All too often, 
the big oil and big coal companies don't act themselves, although some 
do, but they let the chamber do their dirty work for them. So today 
Sheldon Whitehouse and I, along with a number of our colleagues, will 
be sending a letter to the chamber, calling on them to speak out 
against the administration's effort to undermine the ``National Climate 
Assessment.'' It is not enough to simply say: Oh, well, it is a 
problem.
  Inaction is not an option. They must do something concrete. This is a 
concrete action we are proposing that will make a difference. I read in 
today's New York Times that companies are now beginning to plan for how 
climate change will cost them more money in the next 5 years. They 
don't think it is no problem. They don't think it is a 30-year problem. 
These companies and their interest in their profits--that is how they 
should be interested, although I would like to see them a little more 
interested in workers and communities and climate. These companies, for 
their own bottom lines, are saying climate change is real, and we 
better do something.
  Well, one way the chamber can move things along is to speak out 
against this administration in its efforts to undermine the ``National 
Climate Assessment.'' For years, this study has been the gold standard 
for climate research within our government. It is not partisan. It is 
factual; it is based on science; and it assesses the long-term threats 
to climate change.
  The President is sort of, on climate, a member of the Flat Earth 
Society, just denying the facts. It would be as if Columbus sailed, and 
the President still said the earth is flat. That is how he is acting on 
climate. Well, the Chamber ought to break with that. They ought to let 
science and facts determine how we act.
  This is a moment when the Chamber could actually use its influence to 
convince the administration to reverse course. If the business 
community said this, it would make a big difference. So this is a 
moment. Let's see if the chamber really wants to prove that they are 
for climate change. Let's see. Let's see. If they don't, we ask their 
members who say they believe in climate--and who are even planning for 
the problems we face--to put pressure on them to do it. Let's hope. 
Let's hope.
  Now, before I yield the floor, I just want to send a kudos--he 
reminded me that the word ``kudos'' is singular, not plural, which I 
did not know for all of my years here. Mr. President, I see by your 
reaction, you did not know either. It is a kudos. So let me gave a 
kudos to Sheldon Whitehouse's leadership on this issue. One of his many 
positive traits is he knows grammar and all of that much better than 
most of us, but one of his greater traits is how he has been relentless 
in pushing forward on climate and on pushing corporate America to do 
more.
  I look forward to continuing to work with him to shed light on the 
role that Big Money plays in undermining climate policy, and I look 
forward to hearing from the chamber of commerce on what they have to 
say about the administration's latest attacks on climate science.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________