Kathy Castor: “I thank Chairman Engel of the Foreign Affairs Committee for yielding the time. Mr. Chairman, I rise humbly as a…”

“I thank Chairman Engel of the Foreign Affairs Committee for yielding the time. Mr. Chairman, I rise humbly as a Representative of my home State of Florida and as a patriotic American but, especially today, as a mother of two daughters and future generations because I feel the weight of our moral responsibility to address climate change. This is a historic day here in the House of Representatives. This is the first time in 10 years that major climate legislation is being heard in the people's House. {time} 1445 H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act, is where we will start by honoring America's commitment to address the climate crisis, and it is a crisis. The last time global monthly temperatures were below average was in February of 1985. That means everyone who is 34 years of age or younger has grown up in a world that has been forever altered by the change in climate. How severe the impacts of climate change will be to us personally over time depends on the actions that we take now. Based on the latest science from the administration's own National Climate Assessment, we have reason to worry. Seas are rising. America's heartland and farms have suffered unprecedented floods. Snowpack is shrinking, and that is bad for clean water supplies. Droughts are getting worse. Hot, humid heat waves are becoming more intense, with more days where people cannot safely work or play outside.…”