[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 99 (Wednesday, June 7, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1987-S1988]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Climate Change

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this morning, our Nation's Capital and 
much of the Northeast, including almost the whole of my State of New 
York, woke up once again under a veil of smog. As we speak, wildfires 
of unnatural strength continue blazing in Canada, sending toxic air and 
smoke over the border and over American cities. Today, I am sad to say, 
New York City, which usually has good air quality, has some of the 
lowest air quality in the world thanks to these wildfires, and the 
problem is even worse in Upstate New York.
  I urge every single American and Canadian impacted by the smog to 
take precautions to stay safe and to follow public safety guidelines in 
their communities.
  These Canadian wildfires are truly unprecedented, and we cannot 
ignore that climate change continues to make these disasters worse. 
Warmer temperatures and severe droughts mean forests burn faster, burn 
hotter, and burn bigger. And the warming is happening at a faster pace 
in countries with higher latitudes. None of this--none of this--is a 
coincidence.
  This smoke and fog over New York and the rest of the Northeast is a 
warning from nature that we have a lot of work to do to reverse the 
destruction of climate change. Every time we see a wildfire in Canada 
or in the West or a monstrous hurricane in the Southeast or a blizzard 
in Texas, it is a reminder that time is short to reverse the impacts of 
a warming planet.
  Democrats are proud of the progress we have made to accelerate 
America's transition to clean energy through the Inflation Reduction 
Act, but both parties--both parties--have an obligation to do more. The 
work to protect our climate is far from over, and we are dangerously 
behind.
  Again, I am proud of the historic work Democrats did last year to 
move us in the right direction, but I implore my colleagues on both 
sides of the aisle to look up at the smog today and recognize we must--
we must--do more.
  At the top of the list is a good transmission bill, which will 
greatly enhance our Nation's ability to bring clean energy, like wind 
and solar, to large population centers and reduce the carbon that is 
thrown into the atmosphere.

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