[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7867-7868]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SEE NO CLIMATE CHANGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, it has been my privilege to work on 
issues of reduction of greenhouse gases for over 25 years. I was 
Portland's commissioner of public works when we became the first 
American city with a comprehensive approach to deal with greenhouse 
gases. For 4 years I was pleased to serve on Speaker Pelosi's Select 
Committee on Global Warming and Energy Independence, where we had an 
opportunity to work with people around the world looking at climate 
impacts, dealing with dozens of hearings, hundreds of experts concerned 
with the challenge, the even greater problems that we are facing in the 
future.
  Yet, I would say that in the years that I have been working on this 
issue, I have never seen a better, more effective statement than what 
appeared in yesterday's Washington Post, an essay by Bill McKibben 
entitled ``See no climate change.'' He said, you should not wonder, is 
this somehow related to the tornado outbreak 3 weeks ago in Tuscaloosa, 
or the enormous outbreak a couple weeks before with the most active 
tornado season in America's history. You should not connect in your 
mind the fires burning across Texas, fires that have burned more of 
America at this point this year than any wildfires in previous years. 
Or that the adjoining parts of Oklahoma and New Mexico are drier now 
than they have ever been, much worse than during the Dust Bowl. You 
should not wonder whether this year's record snowfalls and rainfalls 
across the Midwest, resulting in record flooding along the Mississippi, 
could somehow be related.
  There have been tornadoes before. There will be tornadoes again. 
That's the important thing. Be careful to make sure you don't let 
yourself wonder while all these record-breaking events are happening in 
such proximity. Wondering why there have been unprecedented megafloods 
in Australia, New Zealand, and Pakistan in the last year. Why it's just 
now that the Arctic has melted for the first time in thousands of 
years.
  He goes on, because if you ask yourself what it meant that the Amazon 
has just gone through its second hundred-year flood in 5 years, or that 
the pine forests across the West of this continent have been 
obliterated by bark beetles, you might have to ask other questions. 
It's better to join with the U.S. House of Representatives, who voted 
240-184 this spring to defeat a resolution saying simply that climate 
change is occurring, caused largely by human activities, and poses 
significant risks for human welfare.
  Propose your own physics. Ignore physics altogether. Just don't start 
asking yourself whether there might be some relationship among last 
year's failed grain harvest in the Russian heat wave and Queensland's 
failed grain harvest from its second flood, and Germany and France's 
current drought-related crop failures. It's important, Bill says, to 
remain calm. If the worst ever did come to worst, it's reassuring to 
remember that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce told the Environmental 
Protection Agency in recent filings that there's no need to worry 
because populations can acclimate to warmer climates via a range of 
behavioral, physiological, and technological adaptations. Bill says, 
I'm sure that's what the residents in Joplin, Missouri, are telling 
themselves today.
  Mr. Speaker, I couldn't agree more. It is important for Americans to 
think about how these pieces fit together. And Members of Congress 
should ask themselves two questions. First, even if you don't believe 
the experts on the danger of climate change, shouldn't we be taking 
extraordinary steps to stop wasting more energy than anybody in the 
world and exporting billions of dollars overseas to other countries for 
our energy? That's question one. The second question that I hope 
Members of Congress will ask themselves, what if 99.9 percent of the 
scientists are right and we are doing it to ourselves?

                       [From the Washington Post]

                         See No Climate Change

                           (By Bill McKibben)

       Caution: It is vitally important not to make connections. 
     When you see pictures of rubble like this week's shots from 
     Joplin, Mo., you should not wonder: Is this somehow related 
     to the tornado outbreak three weeks ago in Tuscaloosa, Ala., 
     or the enormous outbreak a couple of weeks before that 
     (which, together, comprised the most active April for 
     tornadoes in U.S. history). No, that doesn't mean a thing.
       It is far better to think of these as isolated, 
     unpredictable, discrete events. It is not advisable to try to 
     connect them in your mind with, say, the fires burning across 
     Texas--fires that have burned more of America at this point 
     this year than any wildfires have in previous years. Texas, 
     and adjoining parts of Oklahoma and New Mexico, are drier 
     than they've ever been--the drought is worse than that of the 
     Dust Bowl. But do not wonder if they're somehow connected.
       If you did wonder, you see, you would also have to wonder 
     about whether this year's record snowfalls and rainfalls 
     across the Midwest--resulting in record flooding along the 
     Mississippi--could somehow be related. And then you might 
     find your thoughts wandering to, oh, global warming, and to 
     the fact that climatologists have been predicting for years 
     that as we flood the atmosphere with carbon we will also 
     start both drying and flooding the planet, since warm air 
     holds more water vapor than cold air.
       It's far smarter to repeat to yourself the comforting 
     mantra that no single weather event can ever be directly tied 
     to climate change. There have been tornadoes before, and 
     floods--that's the important thing. Just be careful to make 
     sure you don't let yourself wonder why all these record-
     breaking

[[Page 7868]]

     events are happening in such proximity--that is, why there 
     have been unprecedented megafloods in Australia, New Zealand 
     and Pakistan in the past year. Why it's just now that the 
     Arctic has melted for the first time in thousands of year. 
     No, better to focus on the immediate casualties, watch the 
     videotape from the store cameras as the shelves are blown 
     over. Look at the news anchorman standing in his waders in 
     the rising river as the water approaches his chest.
       Because if you asked yourself what it meant that the Amazon 
     has just come through its second hundred-year drought in the 
     past five years, or that the pine forests across the western 
     part of this continent have been obliterated by a beetle in 
     the past decade--well, you might have to ask other questions. 
     Such as: Should President Obama really just have opened a 
     huge swath of Wyoming to new coal mining? Should Secretary of 
     State Hillary Clinton sign a permit this summer allowing a 
     huge new pipeline to carry oil from the tar sands of Alberta? 
     You might also have to ask yourself: Do we have a bigger 
     problem than $4-a-gallon gasoline?
       Better to join with the U.S. House of Representatives, 
     which voted 240 to 184 this spring to defeat a resolution 
     saying simply that ``climate change is occurring, is caused 
     largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for 
     public health and welfare.'' Propose your own physics; ignore 
     physics altogether. Just don't start asking yourself whether 
     there might be some relation among last year's failed grain 
     harvest from the Russian heat wave, and Queensland's failed 
     grain harvest from its record flood, and France's and 
     Germany's current drought-related crop failures, and the 
     death of the winter wheat crop in Texas, and the inability of 
     Midwestern farmers to get corn planted in their sodden 
     fields. Surely the record food prices are just freak 
     outliers, not signs of anything systemic.
       It's very important to stay calm. If you got upset about 
     any of this, you might forget how important it is not to 
     disrupt the record profits of our fossil fuel companies. If 
     worst ever did come to worst, it's reassuring to remember 
     what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce told the Environmental 
     Protection Agency in a recent filing: that there's no need to 
     worry because ``populations can acclimatize to warmer 
     climates via a range of behavioral, physiological, and 
     technological adaptations.'' I'm pretty sure that's what 
     residents are telling themselves in Joplin today.

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