Mr. President, today I rise to join my friends in celebrating Earth Day. Senator Gaylord Nelson began the tradition in 1970, making today the 51st celebration of Earth Day. While it is always important to set aside a day to pause and reflect on our relationship with the natural world, I consider this Earth Day one of the most important yet. As we begin to emerge from the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic and reset our new ``business as usual,'' we are stepping into a new world, ripe with opportunity for progress on climate change with a more meaningful understanding of what it means to live in a global community. Our Nation and planet are at a crossroads in determining the future of our climate. With a new administration that understands the threat of climate change and the role of the United States as a global leader, we are at the precipice of bold action. The scientific consensus is that climate change will have devastating and far-reaching impacts on the environment, public health, and national security, and we must mitigate and adapt. In 2018, the United Nations U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC found that if a concerted multilateral effort is not made to keep global temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, we will cross a tipping point and cause the worst damage by climate change. The scientific community has been sounding the alarm for years, which too many of our colleagues have chosen to ignore.…
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