[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 183 (Tuesday, October 19, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S7041]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Climate Change

  Mr. President, he says--these are his words--Democrats are waging a 
war on affordable energy. I want to just reflect on the words 
``affordable energy.'' It is true that we have ample energy resources 
in most places in America, but to argue that they are affordable is to 
fail to take into account what the costs of climate change are in 
America and around the world.
  It is not affordable for us to have so many greenhouse gas emissions 
and fossil fuels that we are creating extreme weather events all across 
the world. And we have seen them here in the United States. We have 
seen the fires in your State of California and in the Northwest; we 
have seen the flooding all across the country, including the Midwest; 
we have seen violent weather occurring at times of the year when 
historically it never occurs; and we are paying a heavy price for 
climate change, global warming, and the fact that we are so dependent 
on fossil fuels.
  So when the Democrats--it used to be another bipartisan issue--and it 
no longer is--but when the Democrats sound the alarm about climate 
change and global warming, it is because current energy sources are not 
affordable in terms of the future of our planet. We have to find a 
better way.
  I am sorry to see so many current politicians unable or unwilling to 
accept their responsibility to change this country and the world for 
the better and to leave an Earth, a planet, an environment that our 
kids can live in. I don't think that is too much to ask, and I think we 
ought to do our part.