[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11024]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



      THE TIME IS NOW TO CONSIDER IMPACTS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, last week President Bush met with 
European leaders to discuss, along with other important policy issues, 
his dismissal of the Kyoto Protocol and the administration's 
minimization of global climate change.
  I personally find it interesting that while the President feels we 
need to hold off taking action on global warming and instead need to 
study it more, at the same time he was discussing with our European 
allies his willingness to advance a national missile defense system 
that is unproven, expensive, and diplomatically unpopular with less 
likelihood of destruction, frankly, than what we face with global 
climate change. Three thousand international scientists and the 
National Academy of Science have all agreed: global warming is real and 
we are beginning to see the impacts in the rise of extreme weather 
episodes that have struck the United States in the past few years.
  Indeed, it was ironic that at the time the President was minimizing 
global climate change and heading off to Europe, his home State of 
Texas was visited by Tropical Storm Allison that hit with brutal 
ferocity. It killed 22 people in Houston. It rained 3 feet in less than 
a week, most of it in a single 24-hour period, an unprecedented flood, 
some would suggest.
  Damages were estimated at $2 billion in Houston alone, and 28 
counties were declared Federal disaster areas. We saw what some 
scientists feel is a glimpse of the problem in the future, like the 
woman who was alone in an elevator when the power went out and they are 
programmed, of course, to go to the bottom floor. Unfortunately, in 
this case, the bottom 4 floors were flooded, causing the woman to 
drown. Or the man who was trying to save his television in the midst of 
a flood and was electrocuted when he touched the antenna, and his 
mother electrocuted trying to help him.
  Now, it is inconvenient, it is dangerous, and it is beyond the notion 
of a few planes canceled, although Continental Airlines canceled 1,000 
flights, while the Houston International Airport was closed, Mr. 
Speaker, a devastating example of the expected human and economic costs 
associated with global climate change.
  Now, at the same time, we in Congress are pursuing policies that may 
make the impact of tropical storms and hurricanes worse as far as our 
coastal communities are concerned. I was struck by an editorial article 
in this Sunday's Washington Post by geologist Orrin Pilkey urging 
Congress to work with the administration on pursuing smarter policies 
and investments along our Nation's thousands of miles of coastline.
  He cited one particular area that needed special scrutiny, and the 
Federal Government has embarked upon what, in many cases, can be termed 
an ill-advised action of steadily nourishing these beaches. In some 
cases, we have seen examples where they appear for legislative 
authorization without extensive interaction on this Chamber floor; at 
the same time, in much the same manner where the Corps of Engineers 
over the years have reduced the size of flood plains and increased the 
potential of damage by building one dyke and dam after another. 
Nonengineering solutions for beaches are seldom considered, and have 
the potential of increasing the risk. As we have an artificially 
rebuilt beach, it encourages people to develop in areas that are 
ecologically not sustainable.
  Already, more than 300 East Coast and Gulf Coast beaches have been 
nourished; and more are being added to the list all the time. Last year 
in WRDA, without extensive debate on this floor, we added a 14-mile 
long Outer Banks beach nourishment project in North Carolina that has a 
projected cost of almost $2 billion over the next 50 years. It boils 
down to a subsidy of $30,000 per year for 50 years for each beachfront 
property that is supposed to be projected by this new beach.
  Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that it is time for the Members of the 
House of Representatives to consider the impacts of global climate 
change and to eliminate subsidies and government actions that will make 
the impacts and costs worse over time. Looking at these existing 
policies at the same time we work towards global solutions for the 
impact of global climate change is the key to making our families safe, 
healthy, and economically secure for more livable communities tomorrow.

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