Norman D. Dicks: “A few years ago, the Supreme Court said that the EPA, under the Clean Air Act, had to come up with and look at the…”

“A few years ago, the Supreme Court said that the EPA, under the Clean Air Act, had to come up with and look at the consequences of greenhouse gases and to create this registry, which is a scientific document that allows us to know just exactly what the various sources of these greenhouse gases are. Now we hear a lot about climate change. I just want to point out there is another more immediate problem. The gentleman from Kansas may not be aware of this because it affects our oceans, and Kansas is in the middle of our country. The oceans are now a sink for carbon dioxide. And as we get more and more CO<INF>2</INF> in the ocean, it creates acidity, the so-called pH factor, which at normal range is around 8.1, and when it goes down--we have places in Hood Canal, in my home area, that are down at 7.3. At that level of acidity, it starts to take apart coral. It takes apart oyster shells. It takes apart the vital plankton, which are the food for salmon, 60 percent of the food for salmon. This is an incredibly important situation. So the more we can learn about greenhouse gases and what their effect is not only on our climate, but also on the ocean. We are poisoning the ocean. And again, there is this ``let's not take time to work on this issue because somehow it's going to cut away jobs.'' It may end civilization. Think about that. Your grandchildren, my grandchildren--your children, maybe. Maybe you're younger. I worry about them.…”