Hank Johnson: “I urge my Republican colleagues to recognize the devastating consequences of air pollution, which is causing, or at…”

“I urge my Republican colleagues to recognize the devastating consequences of air pollution, which is causing, or at least contributing to greatly, the drastic changes in the Earth's climate. Last year we experienced severe record-setting weather across the country, yet Republicans and climate deniers argue that no single weather event can be proven to have been caused by climate change. Paradoxically, climate deniers are now using the extreme cold snap as evidence to support their cause, which is to do away with all laws and regulations that protect our precious air quality. The maddening denial of the link between air quality and climate change is reckless, and it is a denial of scientific fact. Our posterity deserves more. We know, and 95 percent of scientists agree, that climate change leads to more severe weather overall, and the evidence is overwhelming. Now is the time for a real debate on climate change before another devastating year of extreme weather that takes lives, destroys communities, and wreaks havoc on our society and our economy. ____________________”