Chris Coons: “I wish to thank my great colleague, the Senator from Rhode Island, for his tireless efforts to keep climate change on…”

“I wish to thank my great colleague, the Senator from Rhode Island, for his tireless efforts to keep climate change on this Chamber's radar. One day I hope that we can move it from our radar to our to-do list and ultimately to the history books. Today I am pleased and proud to join my colleagues to speak about something I thought we had established in grade school but apparently bears repeating; that is, the importance of science. It is troubling that today in the 21st century, there is any doubt about the importance of real, sound science in many facets of our lives. It is troubling that we still need to defend science here on the Senate floor. Scientific discovery and invention are the engine of our economy. Science leads to transformative technologies and new ways of thinking in a wide range of fields, including health care, manufacturing, agriculture, clean energy, and national security. Scientific inquiry is also the foundation of good public policy. It shapes and informs how we inform global threats such as ozone depletion, an issue on which the international community has made real progress. Science must play an equally central role in how we address climate change. When we want to know what to do about a public health or environmental crisis, we turn to science. For example, rigorous, careful data collection and analysis are critical to understanding long-term trends.…”