[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 183 (Wednesday, December 16, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H9360-H9364]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FUTURE FORUM: CLIMATE CHANGE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from California (Mr. Swalwell) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to kick off the
latest Future Forum Special Order hour. Today we will be talking about
something of unique importance to millennials across the United States
and, in fact, the world: climate change and what we do about it.
Joining me today are Members from across our country. We have
Congressman Boyle from the Philadelphia area, Congressman Lieu from the
Los Angeles area, and Congressman Gallego from the Phoenix area.
Why is the risk of climate change so unique and important to
millennials? Well, they know that the very world in which they live--
and the one that we will give to our children--is in danger of
experiencing catastrophic environmental changes. It is our future that
is on the line, and it is our future that is in danger.
I also encourage anyone watching this to participate in the
conversation at #futureforum, and I will engage our Members under that
hashtag.
First, I want to start with Congressman Lieu.
I would ask you, Congressman, in the Los Angeles area, a place where
young people are thriving and young people across the world are moving
to, what are you hearing from millennials in the Los Angeles area?
Is it anything like what I heard in southern California when Scott
Peters and I were down there last month and we talked to students at
the University of California, San Diego, and we had a word cloud? This
is where you ask participants in the audience to text in what issue is
most important to them, and the one that is more important gets bigger
and bigger in font size. As you can see here in this photograph,
climate was the number one issue on the minds of people down in San
Diego. Is that what you are hearing in the Los Angeles area?
I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Ted Lieu).
Mr. TED LIEU of California. Absolutely. That is why I am very pleased
and proud that the University of California system became the first,
and currently the only, university to be a part of Bill Gates'
breakthrough energy fund.
We are taking some great steps in California to mitigate carbon
pollution. As you know, California passed the Global Warming Solutions
Act last decade, and it is one of the strongest laws in the world. One
of the first bills I authored seeks to replicate California's laws
nationwide.
It is an important issue for millennials because it is going to
directly affect you in the coming decades. It is going to affect our
children and grandchildren. So we need to make sure that we mitigate
carbon pollution.
All of us are busy. We all deal with a thousand issues, but carbon
pollution is the one issue that can kill humanity as a species if we
don't do anything about it.
Mr. SWALWELL of California. Thank you, Congressman Lieu.
Something that is quite interesting to me is that for millennials,
when polled or asked about climate change, it is not a partisan issue.
In this House, it feels quite like a partisan issue.
My question for Congressman Boyle: Across the country from Los
Angeles, is addressing climate change a partisan issue, and what are
you hearing from millennials in the Philadelphia area?
I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Brendan F. Boyle).
{time} 1515
Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. First, I just want to commend
the gentleman Mr. Swalwell for his excellent leadership when it comes
to this issue of utmost importance to our generation, but also to all
the other issues that face our generation, especially the student loan
debt issue that he and I have spoken about a number of times here on
this House floor.
[[Page H9361]]
With respect to climate change, this should not be a partisan issue.
Indeed, in Europe, for decades, centre-right parties acknowledged and
still to this day acknowledge the existence of global climate change
and work to address it.
Here in the United States, however, it has, unfortunately, become a
partisan issue. Yet, what is so interesting is that, when I go about my
district in Philadelphia and in suburban Philadelphia and Montgomery
County, Pennsylvania, and I speak specifically to small-business
owners, small-business owners, by the way, at least half of whom are
probably Republican, each and every one of them is talking to me about
ways and investments that they are making to ensure that they can get
more bang for their buck when it comes to energy and things that they
are doing, investments that they are making to ensure that we do better
as far as the environment, yet at the same time also reduce costs.
I did a tour back in the spring of a major company in my district
that has made a massive investment in terms of solar panels on the
roofs. This is a major facility, a family-owned business. This is not
an insignificant amount of money they have spent in terms of this
investment. They would not be doing so if they thought this was a hoax.
They would not be doing so if they thought, by transitioning to
renewables, they are able to bring down their energy costs and pour
more money back into their business.
We need to end, especially in this House, this false dichotomy
between doing what is right for our economy and doing what is right for
our climate and for the next generation. The fact is, if we are smart
and show the best of American ingenuity, we can do both.
Mr. SWALWELL of California. Congressman Gallego, I am curious. You
look at this poster board, and we see that 73 percent of people aged 18
to 29 believe that the Earth is warming. Clearly, 73 percent of people
in that age range are not Democrats. They are not Republicans. In fact,
young people are quite independent minded.
Are you finding that people in your congressional district in the
Phoenix area believe that the Earth is warming and that mankind is not
only responsible for that, but has an obligation to do something about
it?
Mr. GALLEGO. Well, in Phoenix, we are always used to pretty warm
weather. Of course, as of late, we actually have noticed it has
actually gotten a lot, lot warmer, and we are worried.
Within that 73 percent range, you will meet a lot of people from all
demographic backgrounds, especially Latino and African American
communities, that are particularly worried. These are the communities
that are growing still, a very young population, but also,
unfortunately, tend to have less money.
What that means is, when it gets hotter--and it continues to get
hotter in Arizona--and they are going to have to pay for higher air-
conditioning costs or are going to have to pay more for water service,
they are the ones who are going to be directly impacted by climate
change.
These young people--the average age of the Latino in Arizona is about
25--have to see into the future. What they see in the future is a State
and a country that is warmer, that has less water, and that did not
make the kind of energy investments that we could have done for many
years.
Right now the politicians of today do not have the vision for the new
energy future. That is why you see those high numbers. Those high
numbers are a direct reflection of young millennials who really, truly
care about the future and are projecting into the future what they
think is important for stability of not just this country, but the
population on Earth.
Mr. SWALWELL of California. Now, Congressman Lieu, talking about this
statistic, in the Los Angeles area, there is a lot that young people
are doing with startups, especially in clean energy.
I had the opportunity to visit an incubator hub, thousands of square
feet where they are working in Los Angeles in the Arts District to try
and solve some of the greatest climate challenges we have through
renewable energy sources.
What are you seeing as far as innovation in your area where people
are saying: You know what. This is not a false choice between fossil
fuels and doing nothing about it? Are you seeing something there at
home?
Mr. TED LIEU of California. When California passed our landmark
Global Warming Solutions Act, we had huge investments in green energy
actually come into the State. California has now been a leader in green
technology in terms of solar, in terms of biofuels and other
technologies.
If you want to do that, people do come to California. It really has
helped to jump-start parts of our community. I agree with
Representative Boyle. It is a false choice between the economy and
climate mitigation. You can do both.
I also do want to note that it is not just young people who realize
this. You have also now organizations that you traditionally would not
call progressive coming on board, saying that carbon pollution is a
problem. You have got the Catholic Church saying that we need to
address climate change now. You have got the U.S. military.
One of the great things about our military is it is exceptional, it
is amazing, because it actually deals with facts. The U.S. military
takes the world as it is, not as they think it should be or in some
fantasyland. When the U.S. military looked at the science and the
facts, they said that this is a national security problem.
We are having more severe weather events. We are going to have food
shortages in other parts of the world causing migrations, causing
conflicts. In terms of the U.S. military's own fuel use, it is very
difficult to transport a lot of fuel over long distances. They are
actually looking at renewables, at solar, at other renewable sources.
Lastly, let me just say, as we stand here today, one of the world's
largest oil companies, ExxonMobil, believes in climate change. They
believe it is caused by the burning of fossil fuels, and they support a
price on carbon. Now, we wish it didn't take them over three decades to
come to this position, but that is their position today.
Since they don't say it very loudly, I am going to say it very
loudly. ExxonMobil believes in climate change. For those who don't, you
may want to think what does that oil company know that you don't.
Mr. SWALWELL of California. If oil companies believe in climate
change, you can, too. I think that is the message here today.
In Paris, over the past few weeks, over a hundred countries,
thousands of world leaders, gathered to declare what over 98 percent of
the scientific community has always known, which is that climate change
is real. Man has caused it, and we must do something about it.
The reaction in my congressional district has been one of enthusiasm.
People are happy to see that internationally this is being addressed.
It is not just the United States. It is not just the giants, but every
country across the globe is recognizing this.
What are you hearing at home, Congressman Boyle, about the Paris
talks and what can come out of it?
Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Well, the first thing is the
fact that 194, 195 nations or so from all around the world could come
together and agree on one document as ambitious as this one is is truly
inspiring not just on the issue of climate change, but, indeed, as we
look at all the other immense challenges that we face as a human race.
I think that it is great specifically for this issue, but it also
shows what we can do together if our hearts are in the right place and
we are dedicated toward saving this planet.
I also just want to follow up on something that Mr. Lieu said, which
is a great point in terms of talking about the broader coalition of
people who want action on this incredibly important issue.
I would add one more to his extensive list, and that is the insurance
companies. Insurance companies, especially on the East Coast,
especially in south Florida and the entire Florida peninsula, have a
great deal of exposure at stake.
They understand that right now--not 20 years from now, not 100 years
from now--as we speak, there are parts of Florida, there are parts of
Virginia Beach, that are flooding when it is not even raining. These
are real consequences that we have to deal with.
[[Page H9362]]
For those of us in the Philadelphia area, in New York, New Jersey, I
never imagined we would be riding out a hurricane and having to deal
with the aftereffects--3 years later still dealing with those
aftereffects, by the way--and the price tag for that for insurance
companies was absolutely enormous.
One thing that we all need to consider--and this is a really shocking
statistic, but sadly true--last month, November of 2015, was the
warmest month in recorded history. Those records have gone back since
1880. We know that this is not a 1-month phenomenon, that indeed it is
just a continuation of the trend that we have been dealing with.
I would really urge those who want to make this a partisan issue and
part of the usual food fight that too often goes on around here, this
issue is going to face Democrats, Republicans, Independents, every
single person in our country, every single person on Earth.
The sooner that we take politics out of this and that we come
together on a comprehensive solution that balances, yes, our economic
needs with, also, our needs to tackle this issue, the better off all
Americans will be.
Mr. SWALWELL of California. I am glad that you mentioned, Congressman
Lieu, the work that is being done in and among our Armed Forces.
Congressman Gallego, you served in Iraq, and you are a member of the
Committee on Armed Services right now. I strongly believe that drilling
our way out of this is not going to produce the energy results that we
need, and, of course, as we know, it will be harmful to the Earth, that
there are actually ways through innovation.
That is something that America has always done. We have innovated our
way out of the problems that have challenged us. Whether it comes to
wind, solar, alternative fuel cells, we are doing that from a national
security posture.
In my congressional district, we have Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory. At Sandia, they are doing
work with oil companies at what is called the combustion research
facility, where they are trying to make the automobile engine more
efficient. At Lawrence Livermore, at the national emission facility,
which is the largest and most energetic inertial confinement fusion
device built to date and the largest laser in the world, fusion holds
the promise of providing a practically limitless supply of clean energy
to the world.
I am wondering, Congressman Gallego, just as someone who has worked
in the military, defending our country before, somebody who overseas
the military now in Congress, what can we do from a national security
posture to address climate change?
Mr. GALLEGO. Well, first we have to recognize that it truly is a
national security issue in two areas. One, if you look at how we
mobilize our troops, when you are out there--and I was a frontliner. I
served with the United States Marine Corps as an infantryman.
Many times I was far away from a base, but I still needed resources.
So people had to drop off my food. People had to drop off a generator
to power the computers that gave us the information we needed.
That was all done, unfortunately, by trucks that were exposing
themselves to IEDs to bring us gasoline to basically power these
generators to even keep us warm when it got really cold, things of that
nature.
If we had a strong investment in green technology that allowed us to
have energy independence down at the module level, it would reduce the
amount of men and women that have to be on these dangerous roads.
When we kind of look at the grander scope of how you actually
effectively fight a war, the first thing you do is you try to take away
their energy resources. The first thing you do is you take out their
electrical grid, you take out any opportunity for them to actually be
able to move. That includes what we know now as gasoline.
If you look at some of our greatest victories, when Sherman was
pushing through Europe, when Patton was fighting in World War II, what
they did was effectively cut off the axis powers' ability to basically
feed their engines by destroying their capability of refining oil into
gasoline.
If we want to also make sure that we, as a country, have strong
national security going now and into the future, we have to make sure
that we are energy independent. Most of the hydrocarbons that are still
in existence in this world are not in the United States. They are found
in a lot of countries that are not stable allies of ours or in a very
unstable region.
For example, Venezuela is one of our biggest oil partners. Even if
you go down to the Middle East, they are in a very unstable area. We
still rely on that area for a lot of our oil or the world, in general.
If we do not receive their oil, they do set the price of the
commodities, which also affects, obviously, a lot of our national
security posture.
If we were truly serious about understanding what we need to do in
the future to continue having a strong national security that defends
the American way of life, energy independence through renewables is the
way to do it.
Mr. SWALWELL of California. Congressman Gallego, you come from one of
the hottest spots in the United States.
Congressman Boyle, you also alluded to November being the hottest
month on record. It seems like every month we learn that the month
before was the hottest month on record.
We are in the United States. If we were in Australia or South
America, hearing that November is the hottest month on record may not
be as surprising as a month that is in the dead of fall and the dawn of
winter in the United States.
Congressman Lieu, you represent a district that for 40 years before
you were there was represented by the great Henry Waxman, someone who
did a lot of good work on this floor to address climate change.
In our home State of California, while the future specific day-to-day
effects of climate change are not yet known, projections not only show
a rise in sea levels across the world and threatening our coast in
California, but models are also suggesting increasingly extreme weather
events.
Whether you are in the Los Angeles area or in the San Francisco Bay
area, we have been experiencing drought-like conditions for years as
well as hurricanes on the East Coast in places like the northeast that
have not seen the intensity like Hurricane Sandy, which we have seen
before.
{time} 1530
And so, as we adapt for our current climate and any rapid change in
our environment, I want to know, Congressman Lieu, can you talk a
little bit about weather events and why this is a threat to coastal
communities?
Mr. TED LIEU of California. Representative Swalwell, that is a great
point you make. Whether you call it science, facts, or measurements,
you can measure climate change. So we know that last year was the
hottest year in recorded history, only to be outdone by the first 6
months of this year, only to be outdone again, as Representative Boyle
mentioned, by November--last month. We know that ocean levels have
risen 8 inches in about the last century, and just since 1992, they
have risen about 3 inches.
I love my district, which stretches from Malibu, south through Santa
Monica, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes, and along the coast, and I don't
want my constituents all moving to Representative Gallego's district
because they are getting flooded.
It is important that we look at this. The projections show that by
2050, large parts of American coastal areas will be at risk of
flooding--and that is a huge problem. So we have to not only pay
attention to that as a national security interest, but just for people
to live their normal lives. And Mother Nature does not discriminate.
Mr. SWALWELL of California. Congressman Lieu, an interesting fact
about that number. NASA projects that by 2050, between $66 billion and
$106 billion worth of existing coastal property will likely be below
sea level nationwide, with $238 billion to $507 billion worth of
property below sea level by 2100. And so it certainly has, as you said,
not just the livelihood effect on it, but also a price tag, as we have
seen.
I mentioned Congressman Gallego served in the military. I believe you
also serve today as a reservist. If you will, talk about the national
security threat because of climate change.
[[Page H9363]]
Mr. TED LIEU of California. I am very honored to have Los Angeles Air
Force Base in my district. It was the first base to actually go green
in terms of its vehicles. So all the vehicles the L.A. Air Force Base
uses on the government side are energy-efficient electric vehicles.
They are the first large institution to develop a vehicle-to-grid
program where you actually plug in the vehicle and it gives electricity
back to the grid when the grid needs it. If you can get that
widespread, that would be a game changer across America. So the
military is very focused on this issue.
Again, what makes America an exceptional country--one of the best in
the world--is we actually rely on facts and science and measurements.
Ninety-seven percent of scientists looking at this issue have said that
climate change is real, it is largely caused by humans, and we need to
do something about it or else we are going to be in a great world of
hurt.
If 9 out of 10 doctors said your child shows the symptoms of
diabetes, would you keep feeding your child Snickers bars? You would be
crazy if you do that. You would actually go and seek treatment. It
makes no sense for folks to believe in doctors and science and math and
technology and then, on this one narrow issue of carbon pollution,
simply for ideological reasons, say we are not going to trust any
science or facts or measurements.
Mr. SWALWELL of California. Bringing us back to what millennials
believe on this issue. Some of you have participated in our Future
Forum dialogue.
On January 14, Congressman Lieu will be in the Los Angeles area
hosting a Future Forum dialogue on climate change, student loan debt,
and the other issues facing our generation. But some of the science, as
you mentioned, behind millennial beliefs is quite powerful.
According to a 2014 Harstad poll, 80 percent of millennials favor the
idea of requiring utilities to generate at least a third of their power
from renewable sources like solar and wind by 2030. That also falls in
line with what much of the rest of the developed world is doing.
There was a New York Times story last year highlighting that, by the
end of 2014, Germany would receive nearly a third of its energy through
renewable sources. Two-thirds of young adults age 18 to 34, according
to a National Geographic article, say they are inclined to vote for
candidates who support cutting greenhouse gases and increasing
financial incentives for renewable energy. And in a 2015 poll by
NextGen Climate, 75 percent of voters under the age of 35 say they
would be more likely to vote for a candidate who pledged to turn the
country to 50 percent clean energy by 2030.
So we have talked about the national security argument, we have
talked about the economic advantages and, of course, the livelihood
threat of flooding in extreme weather events.
Congressman Boyle, what about American exceptionalism? Are we any
less capable than Germany or Denmark or any of these other countries of
addressing climate change?
Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Well, for anyone to believe
that--I know there are some right now who are running for President
trying to denigrate America and talk about what is all supposedly wrong
with us. I would point out that the whole history of our country has
been seeing enormous challenges and meeting them and defeating them.
That has been the entire history from Valley Forge, which I am
privileged to represent, all the way through to the present day.
I would also say to the men and women of my generation--of our
generation--who might be understandably skeptical on this issue because
each and every month they hear the same statistics we do that this past
month was the hottest month on record, only to be beaten by the
succeeding month, that we have actually been here before in terms of
dealing with environmental degradation.
As for our parents' generation, they faced two particularly strong
issues that seemed very difficult to meet and defeat. One was with
respect to the ozone layer. If we were having this conversation in the
early 1970s, a great deal of the talk was about repairing the ozone
layer. Even when some of us were kids, that was an issue. Notice that
you don't hear about that anymore. That is because we made the
important changes that were necessary, and we solved that problem.
A second was with respect to our waterways and rivers. I am proud to
represent, Mr. Speaker, and to my colleagues here, the Delaware River
in Philadelphia, which actually separates Pennsylvania from New Jersey.
It is a beautiful waterway. It is also a very historic one, as that is
where, famously, on Christmas Day 1776, George Washington and our
soldiers crossed the Delaware into the Battle of Trenton to defeat the
Hessians and help launch our young Nation on its way to independence.
Well, a previous generation ago, that waterway, as well as the Hudson
River and countless others, was in its worst state ever. Today, that
same Delaware River is cleaner than at any point in our grandparents'
lifetime. That is an enormous achievement. It is one that, 40, 50 years
ago, most people would have predicted could not have been accomplished.
So I would say to all Americans, but especially to those of our
generation, yes, this is an enormous problem, but, yes, we can also
defeat it. Yes, we can also rise to the occasion, just as we have with
each and every other major challenge our Nation has faced.
Mr. SWALWELL of California. That is right, Mr. Boyle.
Mr. Gallego has seen this with me. He came out to my congressional
district and spoke with millennials in the San Francisco Bay Area. We
are aspirational. We are optimistic. We are collaborative. In fact, we
came out of the family cell phone plan, so we are used to solving all
sorts of problems with group think and then actually arriving at a
decision. That is what we do: We collaborate, we solve small problems,
we think big, and we take on the larger problems.
Your closing thoughts, Congressman Gallego, on what our generation
can do to address this threat to our national security, our livelihood,
and our economy.
Mr. GALLEGO. I think if we actually lean back on the strengths of our
generation, that is what we need to do. We are a very empathetic
generation. We care about our community. We care about our world. And
being able to translate that into political power is important.
Whether you vote for a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, make
sure they understand that is your priority, to be represented by
somebody who understands the threat of climate change and you want to
see action.
We also need to get involved more on the economic innovation side
that comes with the new energy future. We are going to be developing
the technologies that are really going to be making the biggest impacts
in terms of slowing down the warming of the Earth.
And it is our friends and colleagues now that are working in labs and
doing the startups in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco that are
creating the technology of tomorrow. We need to continue to be pushing
forward, supporting their efforts, supporting them through R&D. But,
more importantly, having a Congress that is supportive and
understanding of the challenges of climate change is the key to all
that.
Mr. SWALWELL of California. Thank you, Congressman Gallego, for
participating today.
Thank you, Congressman Lieu, for your service to our country and for
standing up for Americans now in this new world and understanding that
this is a national security issue as well.
Congressman Lieu, if you want to, give us your closing thoughts on
climate change and what millennials--and everyone, as you said--can do
about this issue.
Mr. TED LIEU of California. Mother Nature does not discriminate.
Whether you are 20 years old, a Republican or Democrat or a member of
the Green Party, the laws of physics and the laws of chemistry do not
negotiate.
We are now in a danger zone when it comes to carbon pollution. If we
don't act quickly to reduce carbon pollution, in the coming decades we
are going to be in a world of hurt. We are going to have far more
extreme weather events, far more national security issues.
So, working together, it is my hope that we can pass strong
legislation through this Congress, and I believe we will because, in a
democracy, the side with the facts eventually wins.
[[Page H9364]]
Thank you, Representative Swalwell, for having this terrific Future
Forum event on the floor today.
Mr. SWALWELL of California. Thank you, Congressman Lieu.
It has been exciting going to the nine cities across America and
talking to young people and learning their thoughts. As the Future
Forum, our goal has been first to listen, and then to engage with
millennials, whether it is going to their college campuses, community
colleges, workforces, incubator and startup hubs; and then it is to
crowdsource these problems, and then for the lawmakers of Future Forum
to come back to this body and this Chamber and act on the issues that
young Americans care about.
It is the largest generation America has ever known. It is the most
diverse generation that America has ever known. It is an aspirational
generation that wants to solve problems and not sit on the sidelines
and watch our sea levels rise and watch the Earth get warmer. It is a
generation that feels a sense of responsibility that we are only on
this Earth for a very short period of time, and we will be judged by
what we leave to the next generation.
So, yes, we can do something about it. Young Americans are committed
to fighting climate change. They know it is our own reality and the
reality of those who will inherit this Earth, and they know it is
better to start now, before it is too late.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________