Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to yet another attack on scientific consensus and on evidence-based approaches to addressing our climate reality. This amendment would prohibit any agency funded in this bill from considering the social cost of greenhouse gases in budget formulation, procurement processes, or environmental reviews. It is an unconscionable denial of reality. The social cost of carbon is simply an estimate, in dollars, of the economic costs or damage that will result from emitting one additional ton of greenhouse gases into the air. Climate change has tangible and measurable economic impact on a myriad of aspects of our economy from agriculture to healthcare to infrastructure and energy use. When heat waves, drought, or extreme storms affect crop yields, that loss costs our economy and disrupts our food supply. When smoke from wildfires and extreme heat or cold cause illness and death or homelessness increases due to extreme weather displacing people from their homes, that costs our healthcare and emergency service systems. When hurricanes, flooding, and mudslides destroy critical infrastructure, supply chains are disrupted, and time and money must be spent to rebuild. We know, beyond a doubt, that greenhouse gas emissions lead to increased atmospheric CO<INF>2</INF> which leads to a warming climate which leads to more extreme weather and rising sea levels.…”