[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 7611]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            PARIS AGREEMENT

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I wish to speak in strong support of the 
U.N. Paris climate change agreement and in opposition to efforts to 
undermine this international agreement that is vital to the 
environmental and economic well-being of New Hampshire, the Nation, and 
the world.
  In 2015, I joined nine of my Senate colleagues in Paris to attend the 
21st U.N. Climate Change Conference, also known as COP 21, where the 
climate agreement was negotiated. What we witnessed at COP 21 was 
monumental: 195 countries representing more than 95 percent of global 
carbon emissions worked together to adopt the first universal climate 
agreement that calls for international cooperation on addressing the 
causes of global warming and helping poorer nations most affected by 
it. The following year, on Earth Day, the United States and more than 
170 nations signed the international climate agreement in New York; and 
on November 4, 2016, the Paris Accord entered into force.
  I am proud to say that the U.S. was a big part of that effort. That 
is why I am so disappointed to see that President Trump is currently 
considering whether to pull the United States from this historic 
agreement. This would be a huge mistake.
  No country is insulated from the increasingly present and escalating 
effects of climate change. In the United States, we are seeing it 
throughout the country, and this is certainly true in New Hampshire. 
Rising temperatures are shortening our fall foliage season, which is so 
important to our State's tourism economy. Milder winters have led to 
increases of insect-borne diseases that endanger our wildlife. In New 
Hampshire, we have already seen a 40 percent decline in our moose 
population. The changing climate is also putting more stress on sugar 
maples, and this is already affecting syrup production.
  The Paris Agreement establishes a long-term, durable global framework 
for countries to work together to reduce carbon emissions and keep the 
global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius in order to avoid 
some of the worst consequences of climate change. For the first time, 
countries have committed to putting forward ambitious, nationally 
determined climate targets and reporting on their progress towards 
those targets using a standardized process of review. The Paris 
Agreement encourages transparency, accountability, and collaboration 
among nations not only to meet their climate targets, but to encourage 
innovation while doing so.
  That is why American business leaders are strongly in favor of 
continued U.S. participation in the Paris accord. From oil giants to 
tech firms, corporate leaders understand that the transition to clean 
energy presents one of the biggest economic opportunities of this 
century to create jobs and build wealth in this country. In fact, the 
International Energy Agency projects that, over the coming decades, 
more than $60 trillion will be invested in energy efficiency and clean 
energy technologies as countries address the threat of climate change. 
The United States stands in a unique position to be the leader of the 
clean energy revolution. This would be jeopardized if the President 
decides to remove the United States from the international climate 
agreement.
  Climate change represents an enormous challenge, but the solutions 
are within reach if we put into place policies that allow for swift 
action. The United States must help ensure that the goals of the Paris 
Agreement are realized. That is why I joined with my colleagues to 
introduce a resolution stating that the United States should work in 
cooperation with the international community and continue to exercise 
global leadership to address the causes and effects of climate change. 
We have a responsibility to help protect our children and grandchildren 
from the most severe consequences of global warming by reducing 
emissions now. This President must not remove the United States from 
this important agreement.

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