[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 120 (Wednesday, July 17, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4890-S4891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Trump Administration

  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I am looking forward to joining in on this 
discussion that is taking place right now on what is happening with 
these people and Oklahoma's role in this. Jim Bridenstine is a fairly 
recent Director of NASA, and he is committed to reestablishing our 
position of leadership. We haven't really lost it, but it hasn't been 
as prominent as it has been in the past.
  We have people like Tom Stafford. I talk to Tom Stafford almost on a 
daily basis. He is still around. He is still active. He still rejoices 
in the fact that we are reestablishing our position, and I am very 
excited about that.
  I wasn't going to talk about that today. I think that is going to be 
tomorrow.
  There is another area in which President Trump and the Republican 
Senate have had great success, and that is in remaking the Federal 
judiciary. As of this week, we have confirmed 43 appellate judges. That 
is more at this 2\1/2\-year point than in any other President's term in 
the history of this country. That is what is going on, and it goes 
unnoticed. These judicial confirmations have real impact.
  Here is a great example. This week, the Ninth Circuit--the 
notoriously liberal appellate court in California--ruled that portions 
of President Trump's ``Project Life'' rule can--not can't, can--go into 
effect. This is a commonsense rule.
  All it says is that in States that receive title X funding, it cannot 
be used by clinics to provide abortions. We calculate that this would 
have the result of defunding Planned Parenthood by about an initial $60 
million annually. It is a great start to defunding the abortion-on-
demand culture, and it is possible only because President Trump and 
Leader McConnell have rightly made remaking the Federal judiciary a top 
priority.
  What I want to talk about is something we need to talk about now 
because it has not been called to the attention of the American people, 
and that is about the great work being done in this administration to 
better our environment.
  When you say that perhaps it can be argued the Trump administration 
may go down as one of the truly great environmental administrations, 
nobody will believe that. In my lifetime and in my history, I have 
never seen a President so detested by members of the media. So people, 
consequently, don't know, with the exception of a few tweets. I admit 
that I cringe a little bit when I hear a new tweet coming out. But, 
look, if that is the only way you can get the truth out, it is 
something that has worked, and it has been very effective.
  We have a White House dedicated to clean air, land, and water by 
cutting excessive, duplicative regulations. Based on what you see in 
the media, you would think this President turned his back on the 
environment, but it has been just the opposite. We are seeing 
significant progress in environmental protection that we have not seen 
in any other administration. Americans should know the truth about how 
this administration is leading the world in environmental gains, all 
the while growing the economy.
  People say: Well, you can't do that. That can't be done. You can't 
increase economic activity at the same time as making environmental 
gains.
  But that is actually happening.
  Look at the chart behind me. There are a couple facts most Americans 
really don't know. They had no way of knowing, until now. Since 1970, 
combined emissions of the six common pollutants--we are talking about 
the recognized six common pollutants out there--dropped by 74 percent 
while the U.S. economy grew by 275 percent.
  Is it possible that could happen? It did happen because there it is 
right there--all this economic activity, all this growth. The bottom 
line is the aggregate emissions of the six common pollutants. There 
they are, going down. That is because this administration knows what it 
is doing and has the commitment that other people are not aware of.

  Now look at CO2. We have had debates over the years about 
whether or not CO2 is one of the pollutants. It is not one 
of the six common pollutants, but nonetheless it is one that people 
seem to be looking at.
  Since 2005 the United States' energy-related CO2 emissions 
fell by 14 percent, while global energy-related CO2 
emissions increased by over 20 percent. We are talking about all the 
emissions increased, and still we had a reduction.

[[Page S4891]]

  Despite this drop in emissions, in 2018 the United States became the 
world's leading producer of oil and natural gas and a net exporter of 
oil and natural gas fossil fuels for the first time in 75 years. I am 
particularly proud of this. I am from an oil State, the State of 
Oklahoma. I know how many jobs are tied to it. I know what has happened 
to our economy, and a lot of that can be attributed to using the proper 
energy sources that we have available to us.
  This administration has proven that we don't have to impose massive 
tax increases or regulatory burdens on American families in order to 
reduce pollution. We are reducing pollution, clearly. Democrats often 
say the United States is failing to properly reduce carbon emissions, 
and this just isn't true.
  Look at chart No. 2. The reality is our CO2 emissions have 
been falling. In 2017 the United States led the world in CO2 
emission reductions while, notably, China led in emissions.
  You have to look at this. The top line is the United States. That is 
reduction. We are leading the world in reductions of CO2 
emissions. All the way across, at the very bottom of the page, China 
has the largest increase of CO2 emissions. What a contrast 
that is. It defies everything else we read about, and yet there it is. 
That is the truth.
  A lot of people are not aware that there is a big party which takes 
place every December. It has happened now for about 21 or maybe 22 
years. That is where 180 countries get together and talk about what 
they are going to do to reduce CO2 emissions. We see who is 
and who is not reducing CO2 emissions with this chart.
  They talk about the great Paris accord, which this President wisely 
took us out of. What that did was to have these countries line up, and 
between India and China, they are responsible for one-fourth of all 
CO2 emissions. At that time, their obligation was to 
continue doing what they were doing with coal-fired plants until 2025. 
Then, they will consider reducing their emissions. What kind of a 
commitment is that?
  Meanwhile, our President at that time was President Obama, and 
President Obama made commitments that could not be kept by our country. 
Yet, stop to think. We don't need to. We are already doing it. Just 
look at what we are doing right now. People don't know that. China and 
India represent almost half of all the global carbon emissions. We just 
don't hear this in the news, and that is why we need to be talking 
about it.
  Another thing I bet most people don't know is that in the early 
1970s, more than 40 percent of America's drinking water systems failed 
basic health standards, but today 93 percent of the systems meet all 
health standards all the time. In fact, the United States is ranked No. 
1 in the world for clean drinking water.
  Clearly, this President's environmental policies are working. We 
would think environmentalists and Democrats would be praising our 
President, given these undeniable successes, but instead they are 
pushing for the Green New Deal. We have all heard about the Green New 
Deal and what it is going to be doing. It is about a $93 trillion 
program being promoted by a lot of the liberals around this environment 
here in Washington. The authors of this Green New Deal spent four pages 
painting the scary and inaccurate picture of our environment. Then, 
they spent the next nine pages outlining their socialist agenda, aimed 
at ensuring the government dictates life in America--from the car you 
drive to the energy you consume.
  In the Green New Deal, they talk about eliminating air traffic. That 
is very nice. I don't know how people will get around.
  They also want to eliminate beef. I happen to be from a beef State. 
We like beef, but, apparently, there are things that cows do. They make 
noise and don't smell good. So they want to eliminate beef.
  They want to eliminate oil and gas altogether. You can't eliminate 
oil and gas. Right now, 80 percent of our energy that we use to enjoy 
life in America comes from oil and gas, and that is going to continue. 
I don't see it changing in the near future.
  Scientists like MIT's Richard Lindzen have been calling out climate 
alarmists for years on this conspiracy to control our lives. This 
flawed plan doesn't take into account that over 80 percent of the 
United States' energy comes from fossil fuels--80 percent. If you 
eliminate fossil fuels, how do you run this machine called America? The 
answer is, you can't. Our Nation runs on American coal, oil, and gas, 
and that isn't going to change any time soon.
  We had a vote in the Senate on this radical Green New Deal plan, but 
not a single Democrat was willing to vote for it. A lot of them voted 
present. They didn't want to get on record voting for it, and yet that 
is what they are promoting over in the House. They know their plan will 
not work and is extremely unpopular. So they weren't going to join it. 
Anytime you don't want to vote for or against something, what do you 
do? You vote present.
  I didn't think Democrats could be more radical than they were under 
the Obama administration, but I was wrong. At least I give the Obama 
administration credit for being honest about its radical war on fossil 
fuels. For 8 years, President Obama targeted oil and gas producers in 
States like my State of Oklahoma, but President Obama lost that fight, 
and Oklahoma energy producers continue to create thousands of jobs to 
fuel this machine called America.
  I think back to 1990. I was here in 1990, and that is when we passed 
a landmark piece of legislation called the Clean Air Act. I cosponsored 
that act, and that succeeded in reducing acid rain, air pollution, and 
harm to our ozone layer. It has gone down in history as one of the true 
great successes that has happened in this country in terms of the 
environment. We are all a part of this, and we have been successful.
  Many of today's Democrats are virtually unrecognizable compared to 
those back in 1990. I urge my Democratic colleagues to reject radical 
socialist environmental policies, come back to reality, and support our 
President's very effective approach.
  I am proud of President Trump and his administration's record on 
improving our Nation's environment while streamlining government 
overreach. It is possible to have a thriving economy while safeguarding 
our air and water.
  Again, I ask you to look at this chart. Just look and see what we 
have done and where we are. In spite of what you hear, we are leading 
the country, under this administration, which is going to go down and 
be recognized as one of the truly great environmental administrations. 
I am very proud of that. I think it is time that people know it.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Blackburn). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.