[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 68 (Tuesday, April 26, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2140-S2141]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Earth Day

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, as Lady Bird Johnson said, ``The 
environment is where we all meet, where we all have a mutual interest; 
it is the one thing all of us share.''
  This quote from when she served as First Lady of the United States 
during President Lyndon Baines Johnson's time in office, from 1963 to 
1969, still resonates with us today as we commemorate Earth Day 2022 
and reflect on our relationship with nature and the world we share with 
each of us every day.
  April 22, 1970, marked the first annual Earth Day, which led to the 
formation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency--the Agency that 
is responsible for implementing environmental regulations and 
standards.
  We have made great strides in protecting the environment and public 
health through the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered 
Species Act, but the data and science surrounding the harmful effects 
of climate change are alarming. Climate change is harming our 
ecosystems, waterways, forests, wildlife, and our general environment.
  This year's sustainable development goals theme and call to action is 
``Invest in Our Planet.'' The question for climate action is no longer 
``if'' or ``when'' but ``how much?'' if we want to have a healthy, 
habitable Earth.
  Strong policies that protect our water resources, fisheries, and 
wildlife and address the challenges of climate change are a top 
priority of mine in my role as a member of the Senate Committee on 
Environment and Public Works.
  I applaud President Biden for setting forth ambitious but attainable 
climate-friendly goals, driven by science, to help preserve the health 
and safety of our planet and the public. I applaud President Biden's 
Executive actions in January of 2021 to reverse steps President Trump 
took that weakened Federal protections under the Endangered Species 
Act. I applaud President Biden's commitment to conserving 30 percent of 
America's lands and oceans by 2030, also known as the America the 
Beautiful Initiative.
  With the understanding that we need to meet the moment on climate 
change and preserve our planet, Congress passed the Infrastructure 
Investment and Jobs Act, which President Biden signed into law last 
November. This

[[Page S2141]]

historic legislation serves as a significant downpayment on our future 
as we seek to strengthen resiliency and mitigation measures against 
flooding and sea level rise; shift towards greener, cleaner energy and 
technology; and form meaningful habits to clean up the world around us 
by recycling, composting, and disposing of waste products properly.
  The threat of sea level rise and warming temperatures is already 
detrimental to our coastlines and ecosystems, especially along the 
Chesapeake Bay. With numerous and successful restoration efforts 
underway, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act authorizes an 
additional $238 million to the Chesapeake Bay Program to make even 
bigger reductions in nutrient pollution to improve water quality in the 
surrounding tributaries.
  In partnership with local jurisdictions, stakeholders, and the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers, the bipartisan infrastructure act will deliver 
$37.5 million in Federal funding for the Mid-Chesapeake Bay Island 
Ecosystem Restoration Project. The purpose of the project is to rebuild 
the declining James and Barren Islands in Dorchester County and provide 
a substantial increase of habitat for a variety of fish and wildlife 
species by repurposing dredged material from the shipping channels for 
the Port of Baltimore. This is beneficial use of dredged material to 
keep our channels at the necessary depth for commerce but do it in a 
way that restores our environment. Wetlands provide natural flood 
control solutions as climate change brings increasingly frequent and 
severe weather events.
  We only have one planet, which is why every decision and every 
failure to act matters.
  I would like to thank our Federal workforce this Earth Day for its 
efforts to maximize this window for action on climate and environmental 
justice. The Biden administration has directed each Federal Agency to 
take strong action when it comes to dealing with our climate and 
environmental justice. Many civil servants are working around the clock 
to promulgate rules, strategy documents, and much, much more. For 
example, White House officials this month announced equity action plans 
for more than 90 Federal Agencies designed to combat systemic barriers 
to opportunities in underserved communities.
  Each day of COP26 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow explored 
a new topic. Our Senate delegation had an opportunity to attend on the 
day that was devoted toward Nature Day. I mention that because our 
nature depends upon us dealing with the climate agenda.
  I would just call to my colleagues' attention the series that is 
hosted by former President Barack Obama, ``Our Great National Parks.'' 
Take a look at how important it is in preserving our environment for 
the species around us, which affects not only their ability to live but 
our ability to live.
  The month of April represents the opportunity to celebrate other 
related environmental and nature-focused holidays, such as Arbor Day, 
which falls on April 29 this year. My home State commemorated Maryland 
Arbor Day at the beginning of the month, on April 9. This year, we 
celebrate the 150th anniversary of Arbor Day. The goal of Arbor Day is 
to celebrate nature within our communities by organizing tree planting 
or trash and litter cleanups. As President Franklin Delano Roosevelt 
remarked, ``A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. Forests 
are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength 
to our people.''
  The bipartisan infrastructure law also provides $275 million grant 
funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Post-Consumer 
Materials Management Infrastructure Grant Program, which the Save Our 
Seas 2.0 Act established. This program will help prevent plastic waste 
from entering our environment in the first place. The program will 
provide grants to States to improve local waste management systems, 
including municipal recycling programs, and to improve postconsumer 
materials management and infrastructure to reduce plastic waste in our 
waterways and oceans, ultimately protecting our planet.
  I agree with Paul Hawken, who said this in a commencement address at 
the University of Portland in 2009:

       At present, we are stealing the future, selling it in the 
     present, and calling it gross domestic product. We can just 
     as easily have an economy that is based on healing the future 
     instead of stealing it. We can either create assets for the 
     future or take the assets of the future. One is called 
     restoration and the other [is called] exploitation. And 
     whenever we exploit the earth we exploit people and cause 
     untold suffering. Working for the earth is not a way to get 
     rich, it is a way to be rich.

  Protecting our planet is a collective and ongoing effort. While we 
still have much to do, I am encouraged by the legislative and 
administrative progress we have made so far. I urge my colleagues to 
take the next step and pass the Build Back Better Act--transformative 
legislation for a clean energy economy.
  This Earth Day, let us heed Paul Hawken's comments: ``Working for the 
earth is not a way to get rich, it is a way to be rich.''
  With that, Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lujan). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.