Political Quotes

“Mr. President, Leader McConnell may, in fact, be proud that he has turned the Senate floor into a legislative graveyard, but that doesn't mean we Senators have abandoned our effort to make this body work for the American people. Today the special committee on the climate crisis held its very first hearing, where we heard from five mayors from cities across the United States. They told our committee that the average temperature in Atlanta has already increased 2 degrees since 1980; that 3 of St. Paul's 10 biggest floods ever recorded have happened in the last 10 years. So it is clear to them that climate change is not something that will happen eventually, in 5 or 10 or 20 years. It is happening now. It is happening in realtime. That is why these mayors are not waiting for Leader McConnell, or for the Trump administration, or anyone else to start doing something about it. Honolulu, St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Portland and cities and towns across the Nation are working to transition to 100 percent clean energy. Atlanta is converting an abandoned quarry into a reservoir to increase the city's emergency drinking water supply. Portland, OR, has designated more than $50 million for a green jobs and healthy homes initiative. The experience of these mayors stands in contrast to some of the rhetoric we hear on the Senate floor and elsewhere about how climate action is somehow economically unwise.…”