John Garamendi: “In the gentleman's discussion, Mr. Payne hit upon a really important issue, and it relates to this. I brought this up…”

“In the gentleman's discussion, Mr. Payne hit upon a really important issue, and it relates to this. I brought this up because this is where I am coming from on public policy. When FDR said that it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little, normally we think about this in terms of economics, we think about in terms of wages, living standards, and the like. But you hit this squarely, because it is those who have little who are going to be the first and most terribly impacted by climate change. You talked about the vulnerable. You talked about the elderly, the young, the working class, and communities of color. Those who have the least will be the least able to adapt. They won't be able to afford the additional electric bill for air-conditioning. They are the most likely to get sick from the various new illnesses that will work their way into the American healthcare system. As the climate warms, we can expect to have more tropical, hot weather illnesses coming. We see it already. West Nile virus is the example that you gave. So this is very, very relevant. I don't think FDR had in mind climate change when he talked about this. This is what he talked about during the Great Depression. This is relevant today in the era of climate change not just here in the United States, but you look at the poor around the world.…”