[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 105 (Wednesday, June 16, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H2874-H2880]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CLIMATE CRISIS
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Carter of Louisiana). Under the
Speaker's announced policy of January 4, 2021, the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Casten) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of
the majority leader.
General Leave
Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the subject of our Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms.
Castor), my friend and the distinguished chairwoman of the Select
Committee on the Climate Crisis.
Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
yielding to me.
Mr. Speaker, we are in a climate crisis, and it is going to take
American leadership and ingenuity to solve it. But we think we can
create jobs and a lot of opportunity when we solve the climate crisis.
But what we are seeing right now are devastating health and economic
consequences of climate change here all across America, whether it is
wildfires out West, flooding in the midsection. We are approaching
hurricane season with great trepidation. Extreme heat.
We have got to act urgently, guided by the science, working in
concert with our allies across the globe to provide a livable climate
for all Americans, especially for future generations.
We have got to harness the technological innovation of the Moon Shot.
We have got to harness the creativity of our entrepreneurs, the
strength of our workers, and the moral force of this great Nation that
is working to establish justice for all. Because I believe that,
working together, we will be able to avert the worst impacts of this
climate emergency and build a stronger, healthier, fairer America.
{time} 1945
But let's look at what is happening right now. People know this. The
last 7 years were the hottest on record. You don't have to tell that to
the folks out West right now. They are living through some of the
hottest days--the hottest, driest days.
This is a departure from the 20th century average temperature. It
just seems like these hotter days, the longer, hotter summers, are more
frequent. And the science tells us that is true.
Why is this happening? Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is at record
levels. People thought that, during the pandemic, greenhouse gases
would dip and that might provide some salvation from the worst impacts
of climate. But, see, these gases build up in the atmosphere. You don't
get a bonus for any year.
In fact, NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
has said no, despite the pandemic, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is
at a record high.
This creates enormous costs on families and businesses here in
America but also all across the planet. It impacts the air we breathe.
It creates very severe health consequences. Think about the folks who
have to work outside in the extreme heat and more polluted air while
coming out of a pandemic.
Then, there is the cost, not just to the bottom line of the Federal
budget, but the cost to all of us. In fact, last year alone, we
suffered through about $100 billion, $96 billion, in damages from
weather and climate disasters. That is just 1 year.
This is an enormous wake-up call for our great country and people all
across the planet. We have waited too long to take ambitious action.
The time is now. The time is urgent.
We don't have any more time for half measures, so we intend now to
hammer out the most ambitious climate legislation that we have ever
seen in order to answer the moral call that we have to future
generations to make sure we give them a livable planet.
Mr. Speaker, we are joined tonight by a number of colleagues, who are
going to speak from the heart and speak with great intelligence to
provide a little science, a little know-how. I am really proud to stand
with them on the floor of the House tonight.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, Congressman Casten, for bringing
his intellect and his passion for solving the climate crisis to this
Congress. It is needed now more than ever.
Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her words and
her leadership.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bonamici).
Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Casten for yielding. And thank
you to Chair Castor, chair of the Select Committee on the Climate
Crisis, for her leadership throughout this process. It really has been
science-based and meaningful.
Mr. Speaker, as we work to build back better, we have not just the
opportunity but the imperative to take bold climate action. By
strengthening investments in climate-centric infrastructure, we can
create good-paying jobs, reduce emissions, and support frontline
communities.
Last month, I had this great opportunity. I got to ride on a new
electric bus at Meadow Park Middle School in Beaverton, Oregon. Thanks
to the Portland General Electric's School Bus Electrification Project,
the Beaverton School District is working to electrify its bus fleet.
The electric buses are quieter; they are less expensive to maintain;
and, importantly, they reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is good
for the health of our children, our community, and our planet. We can
and must help more school districts and transportation systems
electrify not just in Oregon but across the country.
With the American Jobs Plan, we can create millions of good-paying
jobs, combat the climate crisis, revitalize American manufacturing, and
make long-overdue investments in our Nation's infrastructure.
As the House works to advance the American Jobs Plan, we can use as a
roadmap the climate action plan from the Select Committee on the
Climate Crisis. Our bold, comprehensive science-based plan includes
investments in zero-emissions buses, transit, electric vehicle charging
stations, and pedestrian and bike infrastructure, all to decarbonize
our transportation sector.
Mr. Speaker, I want to give credit to Chairman DeFazio, my wonderful
colleague from Oregon, for his leadership. He has included many of
these provisions in his surface transportation reauthorization, the
Investment in America Act. I look forward to supporting it when it
comes to the floor in the coming weeks.
Mr. Speaker, I tell my colleagues that climate-resilient
infrastructure is about much more than just roads and bridges. June is
National Ocean Month, and as co-chair of the House Ocean Caucus and the
Congressional Estuary Caucus, I want to highlight how the power of our
ocean can and must be part of the solution, which is recognized in our
plan for solving the climate crisis.
I recently led a bipartisan group of colleagues in calling for a $10
billion investment in coastal restoration and resilience projects in
the American Jobs Plan, and I look forward to working with my
colleagues to deliver these needed investments to coastal communities.
Addressing the climate crisis presents an economic opportunity, a
tremendous economic opportunity. We can create millions of good-paying,
high-quality union jobs that will help working families and displaced
workers recover from the economic collapse caused by the COVID-19
pandemic.
Mr. Speaker, the American Jobs Plan meets the moment to not only
build back but to build back better. By advancing the American Jobs
Plan, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rebuild a resilient
clean energy economy, create good-paying jobs to boost our economic
recovery, and begin to repair the legacy of environmental racism and
pollution that has
[[Page H2875]]
disproportionately burdened low-income communities and communities of
color for decades.
As we build the infrastructure of the future, we cannot repeat the
injustices of the past. Instead, we must pass and implement
comprehensive climate policies, such as those set out in the Select
Committee on the Climate Crisis' climate action plan.
Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California
(Mr. Carbajal), my friend and one of the funnier Members of Congress,
but heartfelt today.
Mr. CARBAJAL. Mr. Speaker, going back to my days as the county
supervisor, I fought to make sure the Central Coast was a leader in the
clean energy economy. I helped get the first large-scale solar project
in Santa Barbara County across the finish line and called it a win-win-
win. That is because investing in renewables is one of the best
investments we can make. It means a healthy planet, clean air, and
good-paying jobs.
Since 2014, the Central Coast has emerged as a renewable energy
powerhouse. We are now home to several major solar farms, and soon, we
could be home to one of the largest battery storage plants in the
world.
After years of negotiation, I helped secure an agreement to realize
an offshore wind project and the jobs it will create for the Central
Coast. According to a study conducted by a local organization called
REACH, this project alone could create 650 good-paying jobs and
generate $262 million in revenue each year.
Renewable energy is also a vital tool to address the climate crisis.
Some claim renewable energy funding doesn't belong in an infrastructure
package. I say modernizing our energy infrastructure and tackling the
climate crisis go hand in hand.
Last year, the U.S. spent nearly $100 billion responding to extreme
weather events and disasters fueled by climate change. Instead of
rebuilding each time a disaster strikes, we need to be proactive to
keep our communities safe from the realities of climate change. That
means weatherizing millions of homes, retrofitting buildings, and
shoring up our water infrastructure.
We also must curb emissions in the transportation sector, which is
responsible for 29 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions. If we want
to tackle climate change, the transportation sector must be part of the
solution.
The measures included in President Biden's American Jobs Plan will
modernize our transportation system to do just that. It will create
millions of jobs in the auto industry building electric vehicles and
expanding our network of electric vehicle charging stations.
Transitioning away from fossil fuels to renewable energy is also an
environmental justice issue. Sadly, minority communities are
disproportionately impacted by air pollution. For example, Latino
Americans are exposed to 11 percent more fine particulate pollution
compared to the average American.
Burning fossil fuels pollutes our air and destroys our planet. We
cannot afford inaction any longer. We also cannot afford to pass up the
opportunity to create millions of good-paying jobs that will propel our
economy forward.
It is time for Congress to pass a bold infrastructure plan that
protects our planet, air quality, and economy.
As we on the Central Coast know, investing in clean energy is a win-
win-win.
Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California
(Mr. Levin), my friend and a distinguished member of the Select
Committee on Climate Crisis.
Mr. LEVIN of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from
Illinois, and I thank Chairwoman Castor for her exceptional leadership
of our select committee.
My colleagues have done a good job so far of explaining why we need
ambitious climate action that follows the science and meets the scale
of the challenge we face. However, I would highlight one climate impact
that is particularly important in the area I represent.
My district encompasses more than 50 miles of coastline in southern
California, North County San Diego, South Orange County. Our coasts are
a huge part of our communities. They drive our economies and are
critical to our way of life. But sea level rise threatens all of this.
It is accelerating the erosion of our coasts, which washes away beaches
and threatens critical infrastructure, like the Los Angeles-San Diego-
San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor, also known as the LOSSAN Corridor.
The LOSSAN Corridor is the second busiest intercity passenger rail
corridor in the United States and the busiest State-supported Amtrak
route, with nearly 3 million inner-city passengers and 5 million
commuter passengers each year. $1 billion in goods and services are
also supported by the rail line.
At the same time, coastal erosion threatens the bluffs that run along
our coasts in San Diego County. Bluff collapses have, tragically, taken
the lives of eight people in our communities in recent years.
The impacts of climate change in coastal southern California are not
theoretical. We see and experience them every single day. I strongly
believe that we must take ambitious action to make our country more
resilient to climate impacts while transitioning to a zero-carbon
future, and we must do it now. We must do it now.
With President Biden's American Jobs Plan, we have a once-in-a-
generation opportunity to do so. The American Jobs Plan, as proposed by
the President, advances real climate solutions that will make a
difference in the lives of our constituents. It will put us on the path
to meeting the challenge presented by the climate crisis while creating
2.7 million new jobs, the jobs of tomorrow in clean energy, the jobs
that will help us compete on the global stage. Those are the jobs we
need.
The American Jobs Plan will create them, but in order to achieve
these goals, in order to pass the American Jobs Plan as intended by the
President, we must not abandon the key climate provisions and
investments that the President proposed in his version of the plan. The
package must deliver on the promise to put our country on the path to a
100 percent carbon-free energy powered electricity grid by 2035.
We can do this if we include strong tax policies that incentivize
renewable energy generation. We can do this if we include clean energy
and energy efficiency standards that promote renewable energy and
reduce electricity use. We can do this if we include the policies and
funding to electrify cars, buses, and buildings. And we must include
the transportation sector. It is the largest source of greenhouse gas
emissions in the country.
We need significant investment to incentivize the sale of zero-
emission vehicles. Specifically, we must ensure that 100 percent of new
light-duty vehicle sales are zero emissions by 2035, as envisioned
under the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act that I introduced last Congress
with Senator Jeff Merkley.
{time} 2000
Moreover, the build-out of zero emission vehicle fueling and charging
infrastructure must go hand in hand with the deployment of the vehicles
themselves, which is why I strongly support the President's vision for
500,000 new charging stations across the country.
The American Jobs Plan provides us a pathway to finally achieve these
goals and to lead the world when it comes to vehicle electrification.
So without these key climate provisions, it is hard to imagine
supporting any package that comes before this Chamber for
consideration.
I am eager to help advance a strong American Jobs Plan that employs
our communities, follows the climate science, and matches the scale of
the challenge we face. I know my colleagues here feel the same.
Now is our opportunity to get this done. It is an opportunity that we
must seize.
Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms.
Kaptur), whom I am delighted was able to make time in a busy
appropriation season to come down and join us today.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my very able colleague,
Congressman Casten, for the opportunity to join him and Congresswoman
Castor, the leaders of this marvelous committee on climate change. I
thank them very much for leading our country and world in this regard.
My goal as chair of the House Energy and Water Subcommittee is to
help them and help our generation embrace
[[Page H2876]]
a better future for those that will follow. We must sustain life on
Earth. Let us all help our country and world meet the challenges as we
face the dawn of this new climate change era.
The clean energy future of our Nation and our ability to reboot and
reenergize the domestic manufacturing economy depends on climate-
related infrastructure programs for inventing that new future.
Addressing climate change will create and even bring back good paying
jobs right here at home. Addressing climate change is our portal to
sustain life on Earth for generations to come.
Headlines coast to coast, as others have referenced, tell part of the
story. Yes, the Earth is warming. The rate of increase for damaging
weather events is unrelenting. Each of us, and each of our districts,
have personally experienced the impacts of this historic change. If we
fail to address the hastening crisis, it is to our collective peril.
As a small first step, I would urge every American who may be
listening to plant trees. Yes, everyone can do something. A first
simple step is to plant a tree to capture the carbon that is already in
the air, and the tree will produce oxygen to help you breathe, and to
help your children breathe and your neighbors. It is amazing what
happens.
Cleveland, Ohio, used to be known as ``forest city.'' We have a big
job to do in replanting many of the trees that have aged-out over the
years, and making Cleveland, and places like it, a much more oxygen-
rich community.
Addressing climate change will help human health. As America stands
at a crossroads in this new energy age, we must ensure that
infrastructure includes strategic investments in energy, clean energy,
climate, and water resources innovation.
Technologies and innovation driven by the Department of Energy are
already helping to address climate change. They already have markedly
driven down the cost of wind, solar, energy storage, and efficient
lightbulbs by 60 to 95 percent just since 2008, and we are not done
yet. They have led to widespread deployment and consumer savings.
New innovations will lead to new opportunities. In my own home
region, I was very pleased to be at the birth of a company called First
Solar, now the largest in the Nation, invented locally using cadmium-
telluride technology. And now, just recently in the past month, First
Solar has announced the hiring of an additional 500 new employees in
good jobs to match the thousands they already employ, to meet an unmet
market demand.
Reversing the impacts of climate change will create good paying jobs
like these across every State in our country. Already there are more
Americans working in energy efficiency and energy production than as
waiters and waitresses. Think about that. That is in a very short time,
and more jobs to come. We must continue to innovate and lead in these
areas, so our Nation is not left behind. As people in communities
succeed, so will America. As someone said to me, Marcy, what America
makes, makes America. My, gosh, do I agree with that.
The Biden administration has been clear from day one about the need
to urgently address the climate crisis, and I am excited that the
President's American Jobs Plan will create new jobs by reinvesting in
areas and workers too often left behind, and they will help save our
planet and sustain all of us and those who will follow us.
We cannot lose sight of the importance of including climate-related
and job-creating proposals in any infrastructure package. In fact, any
package that aims to build back better must do that. Climate change can
be addressed by every community across our country. Innovation,
intelligence, and environmental patriotism should drive this new
national imperative.
As we watch President Joe Biden in his foreign trip meet the leaders
of democracies across Europe this week, we watch America lead these
democracies of the world in protecting Mother Earth for those who will
follow us.
It really is a daunting time, but it is also an inspiring time. And
any time America has ever set a goal, it has always achieved it.
Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take some time now to rise
to talk about something that I have talked about--some would say too
much--on this floor. To yet, again, discuss the grave threat and the
massive opportunity that is the climate crisis.
Even as we talk right now about the necessity of limiting global
warming to less than 1\1/2\ degrees Celsius, let's follow the math; the
planet has already warmed by 1 degree, we only have \1/2\ degree to go.
The last 7 years were the hottest ever on record. Even in spite of the
pandemic, global levels of carbon dioxide have hit record levels. In
fact, the last time CO2 levels were as high as they are
right now was 4 million years ago. Sea levels were 50 feet higher. That
is the reality of what happens when heat melts ice, ice dumps water.
This is the reality we have made.
If we are to be judged by our works and we do nothing more in this
moment, that judgment will not be pretty. That is our challenge and it
is our opportunity.
But this change in CO2 levels didn't happen over a million
years, it didn't happen over a thousand years, it didn't even happen
over a hundred years. Half of all the CO2 we have ever
emitted as a species since that first fire that some upright hominid
built in a cave a million years ago, half of all the CO2 we
have ever emitted was since 1990. That is within my lifetime. It is
within the lifetime of almost all of the Members of this body.
That is nearly a century after Svante Arrhenius discovered the
greenhouse effect, since the science was basically settled; 100 years
after the photovoltaic effect that was invented that powers solar
panels today; and more than a decade after the fossil fuel companies
knew about climate change and decided to promote misinformation instead
of acting.
In 1989, when the U.N. formed the IPCC, when Ronald Reagan's EPA
said, we need to create a global cap and trade program to reduce a
global pollutant--to protect the ozone hole, chlorofluorocarbons. When
that same EPA and the subsequent George Bush--both Republican
Presidents, I would add--they said, let's take that same model and
apply it to a domestic pollutant, acid-rain forming compounds.
We have sugar maples in New England because of their leadership. We
have a shrinking ozone hole because of their leadership. When they did
that at the end of the 1980s, we were on the right track 30 years ago.
What do we have to do now to turn this ship around?
The heck of it is, we know what we have to do to reduce our emissions
and we know how to do it, building out clean energy infrastructure,
creating and building wind turbines, solar panels. Building big things
is what America is good at. We do not need to be constrained by our
ambition, my goodness.
When the New Deal was passed, we electrified 80 percent of rural
America in just 15 years. I would like to think our capabilities are
even greater now. Let's embrace that opportunity. The hard questions in
this line of work are the zero sum ones.
How do you allocate wins to some parties when they imply a loss to
another? That is not climate.
The hard questions in clean energy policy are not how we allocate the
pains of this transition; they are how we allocate the gains of this
transition. Clean energy is cheap energy. If you don't believe me, ask
anyone with a solar panel on their roof how much they paid for
electricity yesterday. Ask anybody with a coal plant, they know that
number.
The clean energy transition means it is a win for the folks who get
to go to work building more efficient buildings and wind turbines and
solar panels. It is a win for every American.
I've polled this. 100 percent of Americans like to pay less for
energy. They would all win. 100 percent of Americans like cleaner air.
They will all win. 100 percent of Americans do not want to live on a
coast that is flooding or forests that are on fire or derechos that are
coming across the Midwest.
Our obligation is to seize this chance and to make sure--this is a
hard problem, but it is a good problem--to make sure that those gains
are equitably distributed throughout our society.
The President's infrastructure proposal is just that. It isn't just a
chance for clean energy, it is a make-or-break
[[Page H2877]]
opportunity to finally do what is scientifically necessary before it is
too late.
Proposals like a clean energy standard, a build-out of electric
transmission lines, requirements for purchases of clean energy will
help send our emissions from the electric sector to zero and will be
the bedrock of a new clean economy.
Cutting some or--let's be ambitious--all of the $650 billion a year
that the IMF has said that we currently subsidize the fossil fuel
industry, will finally give us efficient markets in our energy sector.
$650 billion--that is about how much we spend on Medicaid--subsidizing
an energy that can't compete under a free market.
So help make lives better for hundreds of millions of Americans now
and in the decades to come.
Now 12 years ago, when Waxman-Markey was the debate du jour, we let
an opportunity to act on the climate crisis pass us by. Since that
time, we have kept emitting and temperatures have kept rising.
I told you, I have given this speech a few too many times. I don't
want to be giving this speech a year from now. I don't particularly
want to be giving it tomorrow. I certainly don't want to be giving it
12 years from now.
We have a chance now to act while our planet can still afford it, and
we can embrace that because our wallets are going to love it.
Before I took this job, when I was running a clean energy company, I
had a board member who gave me a piece of advice that has always stuck
with me, he said: In the end, the only thing that really matters in
this life is whether your grandchildren can say they were proud of you.
Let's be clear. Our grandchildren are not going to be proud of us. They
are not going to pat us on the back for doing only what was politically
possible. They don't care.
What matters is, did we do what was scientifically necessary? And I
have a lot of colleagues on both sides of the aisle, on both sides of
this building, who will say, You are naive, Casten, what is necessary
is so far in excess of what is politically possible, we just can't do
that.
If that is your approach to this moment, the only thing I know for
certain is you are not cut out for leadership. Our moment, our
challenge in this moment, is to make what is necessary possible, it is
all that matters. Because while the best chance for climate action was
30 years ago, our last chance is now.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider).
{time} 2015
Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, to my colleague and my neighbor from
Illinois (Mr. Casten), I thank him for his leadership on this issue,
his experience in sharing his perspective, and his call to action.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to continue to raise the alarm about the
rapidly accelerating consequences of the climate crisis.
Mr. Speaker, 30 years ago in 1989 I married the love of my life. When
we got married, we looked to the future. We thought about having a
family. We have two sons who are today 28 and 26. We still look to the
future and hope they will have a chance to raise a family. But that is
in doubt because we face a climate crisis.
The climate crisis is the most pressing threat to our children's
future and our grandchildren's future. It is a threat to our Nation and
to everything we hold dear. It is an existential threat to our way of
life, and we have to take urgent action now.
We are already seeing the consequences of climate change throughout
our country in our local communities, whether it is the case of more
intense forest fires that are starting earlier in the year, 100-year
rainstorms that cause floods, not every 100 years but every other year,
or more intense hurricanes and also droughts that are devastating much
of our West.
These are the consequences we are facing today, and they are putting
our Nation at risk. We have to do everything we can to protect our
communities, to protect our Nation, to protect our world, and to
protect our children's future.
That is why it is so important that we pass the President's American
Jobs Plan, that we invest in infrastructure, and that we do it in a way
that builds resiliency against a changing climate but plans for a
future to address and protect our climate.
There are many sources of the greenhouse gases causing global
warming, everything from industry to industrial and commercial
buildings, our residences, but, of course, transportation is the
greatest source, and among that is air travel.
Airline travel is a growing part of our future, but it is
contributing up to 2\1/2\ percent of our total emissions of carbon. Air
travel has changed the world. It has brought us closer together. It is
necessary for us to continue to have the hope for a 21st century global
economy. But it is imperative that we work to address the impact.
That is why, among the many other bills I have helped work for and
support in this Congress to address climate change, I am proud to have
introduced the Sustainable Skies Act, legislation that will cut the
carbon of greenhouse gas emissions of airline fuels by as much as or
more than 50 percent. It will boost the use of sustainable aviation
fuel to make airline travel something that will be a part of a
sustainable future.
This legislation is the single most important step in the aviation
industry that they can take to lower carbon emissions and to fight
climate change. At the same time, sustainable aviation fuel will also
enable more travel and commerce. It is, as Mr. Casten said, a win-win.
It is good for everybody. It is good for our present, it is good for
our future, and it is good for our children.
The facts could not be clearer: climate change is a serious threat to
our economy, our national security, the planet, and the future that we
pass on to our children. We must take action before it is too late.
Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from the great
State of New Mexico (Ms. Stansbury), whose reputation has preceded her
during her short tenure.
Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I rise on this historic day in which we
passed and sent to the President's desk the Juneteenth National
Independence Day Act. It seems appropriate that we should also take a
moment now to talk about climate justice as we are also talking about
racial justice in our country.
Because the science is clear, we must urgently address the issues of
climate change now. We must address the causes of climate change and
our greenhouse gas footprint. We must mitigate the impacts of climate
change and lift up and support our communities. And we must build a
world that is more just, more equitable, and more climate resilient. To
do so, we must invest in our communities, investing in their future,
and investing in critical infrastructure that will make that possible.
The time is now to be decisive, to be brave in our policymaking, to
be bold in our investments, and to lean into the science. This is
especially critical for New Mexico, my home State, where we are already
experiencing the impacts of extreme drought, catastrophic fires, and an
uncertain future.
I have spent my working career working on these issues, and I know
that we must invest in infrastructure like our electric grid, broadband
infrastructure, drinking water, irrigation, and green infrastructure so
that our communities can remain resilient as we are going through this
change and to ensure that we are taking full advantage and leaning into
our clean energy future.
We must do all of this through the lens of social, racial, and
economic justice by investing in good paying jobs and in the
livelihoods and well-being of our communities and our people.
That is why we need the American Jobs Plan now and the investments
that are not only going to be shovel ready, but, as a friend of mine
says, also shovel worthy. So the time is now to take action on climate
change and to ensure that we are investing in the infrastructure that
will make it possible for future generations to live resiliently on
this planet.
Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield again to gentlewoman from Florida
(Ms. Castor), who is the chair of the Select Committee on the Climate
Crisis.
Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, hearing my colleague speak with
such
[[Page H2878]]
passion and such intellect really does give me hope that we have the
tools necessary to tackle the climate crisis. But I think we also need
to think about climate as a climate opportunity, and there are a few of
these.
Our newest colleague, Congresswoman Stansbury from New Mexico kind of
hit on it. And it goes back to--I want to thank Mr. Casten--last year
before the pandemic hit, Mr. Casten was kind enough to invite me to
Chicago where we heard from environmental justice leaders. I also had
the opportunity to travel to Detroit. I have listened to folks who are
demanding greater equity all across America.
Back home in Tampa, Florida, I see it; I understand that now the
climate crisis presents us with a generational opportunity to rebuild
our country and our infrastructure, so we are not leaving communities
behind and we are not leaving any American behind.
We can hammer out these investments that will help us rebuild the
economy. Mr. Casten knows these examples quite well.
Decades ago, unfortunately, the Federal Government put interstate
highways right through the center of many communities. The harms from
the pollution still linger today. In fact, Black Americans are exposed
to 21 percent more fine, particulate matter pollution than the average
American. I just don't think we can pass an infrastructure package that
ignores these injustices. We are going to have to create these new
opportunities in solving the climate crisis, creating good paying jobs,
but also lifting up Americans and American communities that have
carried the burden of pollution.
Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I am reminded as I listen to the gentlewoman
speak--I know our whip always likes to quote George Santayana who said
that those who don't study their history are doomed to repeat it.
We are at the cusp--it has probably already started--of the third
great energy transition we have had as a species. The first one was
when we transitioned from depending on muscle power to mechanical
power. The second was when we transitioned from mechanical power to
electric power, and this transition from dirty energy to clean energy.
Every one of those transitions has been a massive boon in labor
productivity. It takes a lot fewer people to run a steam shovel than it
does John Henrys to dig a hole in the ground, and it takes a lot fewer
people when you can electrify the country to build all the industries
that we have grown accustomed to than it does when you have to live
within a pulley's length of the waterwheel.
With those opportunities have come all that we think of as great and
truly American. We have freed up people's time to invest in whole new
ideas and take away the drudgery of work. But the history we have to
acknowledge is that every one of those transitions has also been
extremely disruptive for the people involved.
I like to tell folks back home that only a Luddite would say we never
should have invented the steam shovel. But you have to be deeply evil
not to empathize with John Henry.
As we go through this transition that we are in right now, we are
going to create a tremendous amount of wealth because we are going to
grow labor productivity again. We are going to have the opportunity, as
many people already do, to generate electricity without depending on
coal mines and coal railroad lines and natural gas pipelines, and, Mr.
Speaker, you are going to be able to do this on your roof from the sun
or from the wind or from more efficient geothermal. That is going to
free up a whole lot of time to do a lot of innovative things. But it is
going to be disruptive for a lot of communities.
There is no doubt that there is a rising tide of wealth that is
already upon us. There is also no doubt that not all rising tides lift
all boats. Tsunamis tend to swamp them out sometimes, and in the
tsunami of wealth creation that is coming down, let's make sure that we
look out for the least among us.
Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I think that is one of the
reasons why President Biden's American Jobs Plan targets 40 percent of
the benefits of our clean energy and clean infrastructure investments
to disadvantaged communities. I think that is smart policy.
I think the gentleman is right. Right now, as we move into our clean
energy future, President Biden has the goal of really helping
communities that need revitalization. When you think about the hard
work in a coal mine or out in the field, we owe such a debt of
gratitude to our coal miners and the energy workers who have powered
America. They have made it what it is over the last century. They
ushered in the economic progress that we enjoy today.
But we now know, according to the science, that our overdependence on
coal and fossil fuels and fracked gas has led to a crisis that now
threatens our way of life. I wish it weren't so, but we have to now, at
this fork in the road, decide that our moral obligation to future
generations comes first.
With all of the opportunities that clean energy and greater and
stronger and healthier communities can provide, we have got to hammer
this out through the American Jobs Plan and make sure that we protect
our economy, we protect our national security, our health, our
beautiful natural resources from sea to shining sea, and the air that
we breathe.
But we have some choices to make. We can double down on the status
quo, even as these climate-fueled disasters claim more lives and they
hurt the pocketbooks of folks.
I think of my neighbors back home in Florida now, the so-called
Sunshine State. Boy, we have a lot of work to do to capture the power
of the sun through solar energy, but we are paying more now because we
have longer and hotter summers, it means AC bills are going up.
We have these intense flood events, so we are paying more for flood
insurance and stormwater costs. Meanwhile a lot of these energy
companies have kind of gotten off the hook over time.
What does the gentleman say about that?
Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I think there is a refreshing change coming
in our energy structure primarily because all of those old power
plants--that some of the utilities in Florida that we are fighting
because they still have all that capital they wanted to amortize--those
plants are getting old, and they are making the decisions that
intelligent businesses always make: I am going to invest in the stuff
that is clean and that generates a high return.
Florida Power & Light Company is a utility that, frankly, has been
one of the leaders in deploying wind energy. It took them a little
while to do it in their own district, but they certainly did it all
over the country, because they knew that was a good place to put their
investors' money to work. And we have seen that leadership, I think,
throughout the business sector in this country. There is a reason why
we are creating so many more solar jobs, and so many more wind jobs.
Jobs in the energy efficiency sector I think is the largest supplier of
new labor.
{time} 2030
But I don't think that absolves us as regulators.
I am remembering when you and I formed what I think we thought was
going to be a vary small delegation to Madrid a little over a year ago;
and we had our pins that said ``We're Still In,'' because we knew, of
course, that the prior administration had pulled out of the Paris
accord. And I still have a picture that I carry around and show to
people of the two empty seats in front of the United States delegation
sign when every other country in the world was there.
But I remember there was a--and I wish I could remember the name--
European parliamentarian that came up to me and said: You know, we know
from experience that when the United States doesn't lead, bad things
happen.
And I said that we thought we were alone out there. But you remember
when we got there, there were a lot of businesses that were there and
there were lot of cities that were there. We spent a long time at a lot
of university booths. And we were still in because we were still in,
not just because it was a slogan on a pin; because all those companies
that made zero carbon commitments and are committing to it because
their shareholders are demanding it.
One-third of all of the assets under management in global equity
markets right now are in ESG funds. People care. They don't--whether
they care for moral reasons, whether they care because they are greedy,
it doesn't matter. They care.
[[Page H2879]]
We have had over 1,200 State and local officials call on Congress to
pass the American Jobs Plan because they care. Environmental and labor
organizations across the country have pushed for us to act now because
they care.
I am reading in the Tampa Bay Times. Recently, Dr. Rich Templin says:
``Everyone who stands for fair, union jobs and climate action can come
together. In this plan, pro-workers and pro-environment voices can sing
in unison.''
We know that is true.
Now, the challenge--you started by asking about the energy sector. If
we are really honest, what we all know in this line of work that we are
in is that losers always cry louder than winners cheer.
People who have got a loss of investment in this space know exactly
what they have to lose. Future generations aren't here yet.
Our job here today is to look around the room and see who is not in
the room and make sure we advocate for them. The rest of them are doing
a pretty good job on their own, I think.
Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, well, what has been so
fascinating is there are so many people in the room because they
understand the opportunities, the job-creating opportunities through
the American Jobs Plan.
Here we go. The American Jobs Plan will create 2.7 million new jobs.
So let's talk about some of those jobs. I think about some of our
colleagues who represent communities that have seen jobs go overseas
over time, our industrial base.
We know what President Biden has proposed will help revitalize those
communities; plug those abandoned coal mines; plug the abandoned wells;
just plain plug the leaks of methane gas that are so damaging to the
climate.
We think we can create millions and millions of jobs through a new
CCC, a Climate Conservation Corps. We can strengthen our communities at
home. I know we have got a lot of seawalls that need repair, a lot of
replanting of trees and mangroves to help protect us from these very
costly events. We know we need to modernize the electric grid across
America.
Representative Casten, that is going to create an enormous amount of
jobs in the Midwest because a lot of the renewable resources, your
solar power, wind power, it is largely in the Midwest. We have got to
build the modern electric grid.
Look at this horrendous catastrophe in Texas just a few months ago
because the electric grid there was not connected. It wasn't
modernized. It wasn't resilient. People lost their lives because of the
strange, climate-fueled winter storm in Texas.
We are going to create a lot of jobs just modernizing and making the
grid more resilient. And I haven't even gotten to the wind power,
offshore wind, wind in the Midwest.
This is our future. This is why I like to think of it not just in the
terms of a climate crisis, but a climate opportunity. And I think that
is why President Biden says that every time he hears people talk
climate, he hears jobs, jobs, jobs.
Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, when we deregulated our power industry in
1992, with the energy policy act, that was never presented as being an
environmental bill, as far as I can remember. It was designed to
encourage people to build cheaper power.
And what did they build?
The nuclear industry went from running 60 percent of the time to
running 90 percent of the time. We started building a whole lot of wind
and solar. We basically stopped building inefficient gas plants, and
the only new gas plants were combined cycle plants that are almost
twice as efficient.
Since that bill was passed, the CO2 emissions in our power
sector have fallen from 1,300 pounds a megawatt hour to 900, and the
price of power has fallen by 6 percent.
Now, there are those who say that is because of the fracking
revolution. And there are people who say a lot of things, I guess. It
happened because economics drives clean energy.
You know what people didn't build since 1992?
Coal. It is a really lousy investment.
In just those 10 years, after 1992, we built 200,000 megawatts of new
gas turbine capacity. Twenty percent of the entire U.S. power grid,
which was twice as efficient as what it displaced, was built in
response to economic signals and drove down the CO2
emissions of the grid. That is a start.
For us to do what we have to do from this point going forward, we
have to electrify everything. We have to figure out how to electrify
our transportation fleet; electrify the way our factories make goods
and services, how our homes keep us warm.
In order to do that, we need to build at least 1,000 gigawatts; 1,000
megawatts; 1,000 kilowatts--whatever unit you would like--of new
generation. That is about as much as generation as we already have in
this country.
We are then going to need to build the wires to connect that up to
all the new loads. And I think as we heard at a climate hearing, they
said that is going to take at least $350 billion of investment. And
those investments are going to make money because people are now
connecting up a cheaper energy source that is giving people what they
really want, which isn't electricity.
What people really want is a hot shower and a cold beer, and it is
going to give them that cheaper.
It is going to help us build out electric vehicle charging stations.
We are talking about massive amounts of public--and private-sector
investments that are not only going to put people to work; is not only
going to give us a more sustainable economy; it is going to leave more
money in people's wallets.
The single best thing we can do to disadvantaged communities is cut
their energy bill. That is what we are going to do. All we need is the
ambition. And I am so glad that we are in this moment and with this
President and this Congress that is rising to that challenge.
Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Casten is right. You know,
listing off all the job opportunities, the transportation sector, he is
right.
And this is a global competitiveness issue. We have got to win this
race with China and the Europeans. They are building those electric
vehicles.
But how exciting was it to see the announcement from Ford and GM?
I can't wait to see this electrified F-150 truck, the Lightning.
This is an enormous opportunity, especially in the industrial Midwest
that has really seen a lot of job loss over the years to China. We are
going to get back on this, and the only way we can do it is through
making these targeted investments.
We want to build the electric vehicles that the world drives. We want
to make sure that that charging infrastructure goes coast to coast in
every community.
But it is going to take the focus of America. And the good news is,
all Americans--I don't care if you are a Democrat or Republican or
Independent, or what, they understand that clean energy is the future;
and that if we do it right, we can lift communities that need it; and
we can create millions and millions of jobs.
Now, I started with the science. And we heard from some outstanding
colleagues, and we are going to hear a lot more from them in the coming
weeks as we hammer out the American Jobs Plan.
But there was one witness at one of our early hearings, Dr.
Abdelhadi, who is an expert, who has been focused on climate for many
years, and I want to just remind what he said.
He said: The limited actions to address this climate crisis have
resulted in lost opportunity and have produced a challenge that is even
greater than it was even a few years ago. With political and society
will, and with strategic and scientifically informed action that
considers all of the dimensions of climate change, the dangerous
trajectory we are on can be altered, such that our generation's story
can be one of success and not failure.
Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to close, as I often do, by
observing that there are really only three things we have to do as a
country.
The first thing we have to do is cut the energy--double the
efficiency with which we convert energy into economic activity. If we
were to cut our energy use per dollar of GDP in half, we would almost
be at the level that Switzerland has already achieved. I think we are
[[Page H2880]]
better than Switzerland, personally, but let's at least aspire to be as
good as Switzerland; double our efficiency.
The second thing we have to do is do the research and development to
figure out how to decarbonize industries like steel- and cement-making
because we don't know how to make silicone; we don't know how to make
steel; we don't know how to make cement; we don't know how to make
fertilizer without fossil fuels today. That is an R&D challenge we have
to figure out.
Then we have to get to zero CO2 emissions; not by 2050,
not by 2030, by 1990. We have to get back to 350 parts per million in
the atmosphere because that is the point that we can say to our
children: We are leaving you a better planet than the one we inherited,
where wildfires are not the norm, where droughts are not the norm.
And is it going to be easy?
No. But we know how to do it.
The first thing we ought to do is take our hand off the emergency
brake. Stop subsidizing yesterday's technology. Embrace markets.
Embrace innovation. Embrace all that makes us American. Stop
subsidizing the fossil fuel industry by $650 billion a year.
Unleash the power of our innovators. Unleash the power of our
entrepreneurs. Unleash the power and the innovation of all our great
universities and national labs who will figure out how to do these hard
things.
And then, yes, even after we do all that, make significant Federal
investments in the things that the private sector is not very good at,
like transmission, like coast-to-coast broadband, like EV stations. We
have done it before. That is how we built the railroads. It is how we
electrified the country.
It is not going to be easy, but it will be necessary. It will be
inspiring, and it will be a story that we will tell our grandchildren
about because we will be able to tell them that we were there, in this
moment; we saw what was necessary, and we made it possible. I think
that is something worth doing.
It is our opportunity. It is our moment.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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