Political Quotes

“I am pleased and honored to be on the floor with my colleague, the Senator from the great State of Rhode Island. We share a border, and we share many common views, one of them being a commitment to our environment. Senator Whitehouse has been a historic champion of action against environmental degradation, as well as climate change--global warming--which brings us to the floor today. We are here to call attention and call for action in connection with the effects of climate change on the waters off our State and the east coast of our Nation. There is a palpable, historic consequence to the warming of those waters, among others, to drive fish populations northward in search of cooler waters. The Northeast has already experienced some of the highest levels of ocean warming and sea level rise in the United States. They are only projected to exacerbate and exceed the present levels. There are storms our States--Rhode Island and Connecticut, and others up and down the East Coast and all around the country--have experienced. Those new superstorms are becoming the new normal in our Nation, the most recent being the unprecedented hurricane and then Superstorm Sandy. Connecticut and Rhode Island are poised to lose land to sea level rise. Scientists predict an almost 2-foot increase in the level of Long Island Sound by 2050.…”