Political Quotes

“I stand this evening to speak about the Boxer substitute to the Warner-Lieberman carbon cap-and-trade bill. I have had an opportunity for several days now to hear discussion from both sides. I think coming from a State such as Alaska where we can see the effects of climate change on the ground in my home State, it is a very important issue for me, and so I feel compelled to share with my colleagues some of my thoughts about what we are seeing up north. We appreciate that there is not quite a consensus in Alaska about what is causing the change we are seeing. Most Alaskans, however, do seem to agree that something is happening. We are seeing a change in the north, and we have been seeing it for a period of decades. The results are having a significant impact on the lifestyle of Alaskans. One of the things we are seeing in a northern State, an arctic State such as Alaska is that our winters are warmer. We are seeing breakup come earlier in the spring, although this spring it has been actually extra snowy, so it is tough to say that it is always that way, but we are seeing breakup coming earlier. Our summers seem to be hotter. The storms we are seeing, particularly along the coastline, are stronger. We are seeing a migration. We are seeing wildlife habitation and migration patterns that are different. The oceans, the lakes, the river ice--we are seeing this form later in the year. We are also seeing that it forms and it is weaker than we have seen.”