[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5014-5015]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               EARTH DAY

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, last Friday marked the 46th annual Earth 
Day, and we cannot ignore that we are at a crossroads in time. Human-
caused climate change is accelerating with each passing year and is now 
taking a severe toll on our planet. We see it in our scorched farmlands 
and burnt forests in the West and in the flood ravaged river valleys 
and superstorm battered coastlines in the East. Climate change is not a 
hoax, and we must act now to protect our future and our future 
generations.
  Earth Day is an opportunity to recognize that climate change is not 
only the greatest threat to our environment today, but it also poses a 
threat to public health and to our national and economic security. In 
coming years, the economy of Vermont, the United States, and every 
country on Earth will be altered. We must guide that economic 
transformation to protect future generations.
  We are really just beginning to grapple with the serious economic 
consequences of climate change across the country. In Vermont, we saw 
the warmest winter on record this year, with mean temperatures 5 to 10 
degrees above normal and snowfall several feet below normal. On 
Christmas Eve, the mercury hit 68 degrees in the State capital of 
Montpelier, beating the previous record by 17 degrees. The abnormally 
high temperatures and lack of snow hurt our ski and tourism industries. 
Many ski areas saw business down 20 percent, and some saw a drop of as 
much as 40 percent. This does not just impact the ski areas and the 
mountains, but also our restaurants, local hotels, contractors, and 
other businesses that are driven by the ski industry.
  Climate change could also impact Vermont's maple industry, which 
contributes more than $300 million in sales to Vermont's economy every 
year. While 2016 has been a successful year for producing maple syrup, 
if temperatures continue to rise each year, in the short term we could 
face reduced sap quality and even a decrease in the amount of sap 
produced. I am also very concerned that, in the long term, our

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sugar maple stands could be decimated by invasive pests or threatened 
by drought and forest fires. The agriculture and fisheries sector is 
highly dependent on specific climate conditions, and maple production 
will not be the only agricultural industry affected. The Pacific 
Northwest's winemakers, Alaska's salmon fisheries, the Southeast's 
peanut producers, and corn growers in the Midwest could all face 
significant climate-related challenges.
  The threats posed by climate change are numerous and can be downright 
frightening. However, Earth Day--and every day--we must remember that, 
if we can have such a profound negative impact on our environment, we 
can also have a profound positive affect on the drivers of climate 
change. If we make climate the top priority around which we organize 
and refocus economic decisions, we can find solutions to climate risk 
through creative thinking and innovation. While climate change does 
represent one of the greatest challenges of our time, we should see it 
as opportunity to nurture and attract entrepreneurism, rather than 
dragging our heels or denying that there is a problem.
  I am proud that time after time Vermonters continue to come together 
to identify solutions to big problems. I am amazed and energized every 
day by Vermont innovators who are thinking creatively and already 
leading nationally and internationally. Vermont businesses, nonprofits, 
and educational institutions are already tackling big problems and 
finding solutions to climate change, solutions that are being readied 
to be deployed in Vermont and exported around the world. Just last 
week, I had joined leaders from the University of Vermont to announce a 
National Science Foundation competitive award of $20 million to Vermont 
EPSCoR, which will support research of the Lake Champlain Basin and its 
watersheds to find out what has made some parts of the basin resilient 
in the face of extreme weather events, while other parts fail to 
recover and rebound. Work like this on Lake Champlain will give Vermont 
and other regions new tools to help build resiliency in areas that have 
been vulnerable in the past.
  Recently, I was pleased to hear that not just one, but two Vermont 
companies, Green Mountain Power and Vermont Electric Power Company, or 
VELCO, are finalists for the Edison Electric Institute's prestigious 
Edison Award this year for their innovation and contribution to the 
advancement of the electric industry. Green Mountain Power is working 
to expand renewable energy production in Vermont and is taking their 
Cow Power model to the next level with a large multifarm bio-digester. 
Meanwhile, VELCO's Vermont Weather Analytics Center will help to build 
a more reliable grid as customers, communities, and energy businesses 
work to prepare for the more severe storms brought by climate change 
and will also help garner renewable energy's full value and potential 
in the State. These are cutting-edge projects, generating jobs and 
knowledge while generating energy.
  Some people see climate change simply as an environmental issue, but 
it is about so much more than that. Creating a green energy sector is 
not just about cutting greenhouse gas emissions. It is about providing 
jobs for Americans in the renewable energy and energy efficiency 
sectors. This is about strengthening national security through energy 
independence. This is about breaking the stranglehold of oil on the 
transportation system by developing alternative transportation energy 
sources. Addressing climate change is also about ensuring that our 
children and grandchildren have clean air to breathe on Earth Day and 
every day for generations to come.
  We have come together before, across the aisle and across regions, to 
solve large problems. We must do so again. We owe it to the planet and 
to future generations.

                          ____________________