Cord Byrd: “for too long, we as a body, and we as a Nation, have fallen short in our efforts to address some of the most profound…”

“for too long, we as a body, and we as a Nation, have fallen short in our efforts to address some of the most profound and far reaching challenges of our time--global climate change and energy security. For too long, we have skirted the issues and have shirked our responsibilities. We have convinced ourselves that we are doing something but, in reality, we continue to take no real action. Rather than lead, we have stood by, paralyzed, undermining any efforts to forge an effective response. It is time to pull ourselves out of that quicksand and confront the tasks at hand. First, we must establish practical and comprehensive steps to reduce U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases and to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources. Second, we must work in a partnership with developing nations to deploy clean energy technologies that can meet their urgent development needs while reducing their own contribution to global climate change and their growing energy dependency. Third, we must commit ourselves to the fundamental task of forging an effective and sound international agreement to guide a truly global effort to confront this most daunting problem, global climate change. In 1997, during the 105th Congress, the Senate passed S. Res. 98, by a vote of 95 to 0. As the primary author, along with Senator Hagel, of S. Res.…”