Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, the legislation before us, which I prefer to call the ``Just Say No'' bill, would effectively give Governors the power to opt out of the Federal requirements of the EPA's proposed clean power plan if they decide that complying with the plan would have an adverse effect on either rates or reliability. Unfortunately, Mr. Chairman, the language allowing a Governor to opt out is ambiguous and does not take into account other costs that States are already paying due to the impacts of climate change. So, Mr. Chairman, in order to address this issue, I am offering a straightforward amendment that simply states that a Governor must certify that, within his or her State, any ratepayer increases associated with implementing a State or Federal plan would be greater than any costs associated with responding to extreme weather conditions associated with human-caused climate change. Mr. Chairman, this would include the costs associated with cleaning up after mass flooding, intense wildfires, more frequent and intense storms, as well as the costs associated with loss of crops and livestock due to increased drought. Mr. Chairman, as any State that has had to deal with the aftermath of any of these destructive extreme weather events can attest, Americans are already shouldering the costs of climate change--and these costs are getting worse and worse.…”