[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 115 (Monday, August 2, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6574-S6575]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CLIMATE CHANGE
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, I rise today to speak on behalf of
Rhode Islanders who are fed up with our inaction to address climate
change and to reform our Nation's energy policy.
In the media and in this very Chamber, we have all seen the tactics
of deception and delay intended to convince the American public that
the overwhelming body of climate science is inconclusive, that there is
some doubt about whether our planet is experiencing unnatural changes
in its climate. They argue that the American people are not concerned
about warming temperatures, rising sea levels, and shrinking glaciers.
They imply that business as usual is our best option, that job-
creating, clean energy technologies built right here in America aren't
worth the trouble or the investment. These voices of deception and
delay are simply wrong.
During my time representing Rhode Island in the Senate, I have
received thousands of letters and phone calls urging that this Chamber
take bold action to price carbon and create clean energy jobs that will
fuel our economy for generations to come. Contrary to what detractors
would have us think, the vast majority of my constituents know that
continuing to fiddle as the world warms is irresponsible, dangerous,
and harmful to our Nation's interests.
Some of the most poignant letters I have received are from students,
Boy Scouts, and other young people who are concerned about the future
of the planet they will inherit from us. In December, a high school
student from Wakefield named Kristin shared her concerns, writing to
me:
As a teenager with my whole life ahead of me, I am
concerned about the dire consequences of climate change and
the impact it will have not only upon Rhode Island, but the
whole world.
Kristin says she hopes to stay in Rhode Island for the long term, but
she is worried about the impacts rising ocean temperatures may have on
the vitality of the fishing industry--a critical economic driver for
the Ocean State that she calls home. By continuing to delay climate
legislation, we not only damage the Earth for Kristin's generation, we
also force her and her peers to be participants in an economy based on
unchecked carbon emissions, unwilling contributors to the damage of
their planet.
Rhode Islanders also believe they will benefit from comprehensive
climate legislation because energy efficiency and renewable energy
technologies will be the foundation of a vibrant new clean energy
economy.
Doug from Newport recently started a small business designing and
installing residential solar panels. He hears from many of his
potential customers that they want to reduce their dependence on fossil
fuels, especially in light of the BP oilspill down in the gulf. Doug
does everything he can to make his product affordable. He helps his
customers investigate loan options and tax credits, and he offers
prices significantly lower than many of his competitors. Doug's
business is a promising one, and he is undaunted by challenges, but at
this point he has difficulty competing with dirty fuels such as coal
that are allowed to pollute our environment for free, regardless of the
costs they impose on the rest of society. Putting a price on carbon
pollution would help Doug compete on a level playing field with other
fuel sources.
Doug, like other clean energy supporters, has our country's best
interests at heart. Doug says he wants to ``get it right'' by
purchasing many of the solar panels from manufacturers in the United
States, creating jobs here in America and keeping our energy dollars
from flowing overseas. Nonetheless, he says American-made products are
often more expensive or even sometimes unavailable. That is because
other countries such as China and India are outpacing the United States
in the advancement of wind and solar technology while we continue to
subsidize coal and oil. We are deliberately losing this race at this
point. It is long past due to make coal and oil start paying for the
pollution they create in our environment and to begin investing in
clean energy policies that will promote American businesses like
Doug's.
Another constituent, Gary from Wakefield, wrote in after hearing that
a wind farm in Texas was being built with turbines manufactured in
China. He was understandably frustrated that the American economy
didn't benefit from the jobs that made-in-America turbines would have
generated. Gary demanded to know: ``What are we waiting for?''
Rhode Islanders overwhelmingly support energy reform that will create
jobs and make polluters pay. Construction workers, small business
owners, biodiesel producers, and renewable energy manufacturers wait
anxiously for America to start catching up with our competitors around
the globe. Schoolchildren want to know that the natural world and all
its beauty and diversity will be preserved for their enjoyment and
exploration well into the future. Consumers want to reap the benefits
of energy efficiency technology that will let them keep money in their
pockets that we are now sending overseas to fuel our oil addiction.
Faith-based groups want to be good stewards of God's Earth, as they
believe mankind is charged to be. Grandparents want to share the world
as they have known it with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
As we move ever closer to the close of the 111st Congress, the
question Gary asked rings even louder: What are we waiting for?
I wish to refer to an article in the Wall Street Journal from July
29, 2010, reporting a new assessment that concludes that the Earth has
been getting warmer over the past 50 years and the past decade was the
warmest on record. It describes the ``State of the Climate 2009''
report published Wednesday in a special supplement to the Bulletin of
the American Meteorological Society. It was compiled by 300 scientists
from 48 countries, and it drew on 10 climate indicators.
Seven of the indicators were rising: air temperature over land, sea-
surface temperature, sea level, ocean heat, humidity--all going up.
Three indicators were declining: Arctic sea ice, glaciers, spring snow
cover in the northern hemisphere. Those are all declining.
``Each indicator is changing as we'd expect in a warming world,''
said Peter Thorne, the senior researcher at the Cooperative Institute
for Climate and Satellites. The report concluded:
Global average surface and lower-troposphere temperatures
during the last three decades have been progressively warmer
than all earlier decades, and the 2000s (2000-09) was the
warmest decade in the instrumental record.
The scientists reported they were surprised to find Greenland's
glaciers were losing ice at an accelerating rate. They concluded that
90 percent of the additional warmth over the past 50
[[Page S6575]]
years has ended up in the oceans. They can only absorb so much, and
then it begins to affect us directly.
``A comprehensive review of key climate indicators confirms the world
is warming and the past decade was the warmest on record,'' the annual
state of the climate report declares.
The amount of increase each decade--about a fifth of a degree
Fahrenheit--may seem small. . . . but the temperature increase of about
1 degree Fahrenheit experienced during the past 50 years has already
altered the planet, the report said. Glaciers and sea ice are melting,
heavy rainfall is intensifying, and heat waves are becoming more common
and more intense.
I ask unanimous consent to have these two articles printed in the
Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Wall Street Journal, July 29, 2010]
Study Says Planet Warmed in 2000s
(By Gautam Naik)
A new assessment concludes that the Earth has been getting
warmer over the past 50 years and the past decade was the
warmest on record.
The State of the Climate 2009 report, published Wednesday
as a special supplement to the Bulletin of the American
Meteorological Society, was compiled by 300 scientists from
48 countries and drew on measures of 10 crucial climate
indicators.
Seven of the indicators were rising, including air
temperature over land, sea-surface temperature, sea level,
ocean heat and humidity. Three indicators were declining,
including Arctic sea ice, glaciers and spring snow cover in
the Northern Hemisphere. ``Each indicator is changing as we'd
expect in a warming world,'' said Peter Thorne, senior
researcher at the Cooperative Institute for Climate and
Satellites, a research consortium based in College Park, Md.,
who was involved in compiling the report.
The report's conclusions broadly match those of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations
body, which published its last set of findings in 2007. The
IPCC report contained some errors, which further stoked the
debate about the existence, causes and effects of global
warming.
The new report incorporates data from the past few years
that weren't included in the last IPCC assessment. While the
IPCC report concluded that evidence for human-caused global
warming was ``unequivocal'' and was linked to emissions of
greenhouse gases, the latest report didn't seek to address
the issue.
The report ``doesn't try to make the link'' between climate
change and what might be causing it, said Tom Karl, an
official at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration involved in the new assessment.
The report said that ``Global average surface and lower-
troposphere temperatures during the last three decades have
been progressively warmer than all earlier decades, and the
2000s (2000-09) was the warmest decade in the instrumental
record.'' The troposphere is the lowest layer of the
atmosphere.
The scientists reported that they were surprised to find
Greenland's glaciers were losing ice at an accelerating rate.
They also concluded that 90 percent of the additional warmth
over the past 50 years has ended up in the oceans. Most of it
accumulated in near-surface layers, home to phytoplankton,
tiny plants crucial to virtually all life in the sea.
A new study has found that rising sea temperature may have
had a harmful effect on global concentrations of
phytoplankton over the past century.
____
[From the Boston Globe, July 29, 2010]
Scientists Say Planet Continues To Warm
(By Associated Press)
Washington--Scientists from around the world are providing
more evidence of global warming, one day after President
Obama renewed his call for climate legislation.
``A comprehensive review of key climate indicators confirms
the world is warming and the past decade was the warmest on
record,'' the annual State of the Climate report declares.
Compiled by more than 300 scientists from 48 countries, the
report said its analysis of 10 indicators that are ``clearly
and directly related to surface temperatures, all tell the
same story: Global warming is undeniable.''
Concern has been growing in recent years as atmospheric
scientists report rising temperatures associated with
greenhouse gases released into the air by industrial and
other human processes. At the same time, some skeptics have
questioned the conclusions. The new report, the 20th in a
series, focuses only on global warming and does not specify a
cause.
``The evidence in this report would say `unequivocally,
yes, there is no doubt' '' that the Earth is warming, said
Tom Karl, the transitional director of the new climate
service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
The new report said continued warming is a growing threat.
``The amount of increase each decade--about a fifth of a
degree Fahrenheit--may seem small. . . . But the temperature
increase of about 1 degree Fahrenheit experienced during the
past 50 years has already altered the planet,'' the report
said. ``Glaciers and sea ice are melting, heavy rainfall is
intensifying, and heat waves are becoming more common and
more intense.''
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. I will conclude by saying it is obviously not going
to be easy to address real climate legislation, real clean energy jobs
legislation here in this body. The big special interests have their way
here far too often. They have spent years salting the fields of public
opinion with their propaganda. Their power in this Chamber is immense.
We may not have the luxury of waiting to take this on until it is easy.
We may have to take this on while it is hard, while it is a fight
against the entrenched interests, while it is a fight against the big
polluters, while it is a fight against the propaganda and dissimulation
and deceit and delay that are their stock-in-trade on this issue. But
the one thing I think that can reassure us is that the public is with
us, that the facts honestly looked at are clear, that the stakes by any
standard are high, and that history's judgment of our failure will be a
stern one.
I hope we can pull ourselves together to take on this issue so that
the Rhode Islanders who communicate to me so often about this and the
people from across this country who see clearly, without the fog of
special interest money and influence, what is happening to our country
and our world, that their voices are heard more than the big money and
the big special interests.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
____________________