Political Quotes

“Mr. President, later today we will have one of the most consequential votes we have had in this body in years, perhaps the most consequential vote in terms of our climate and the risk that climate change imposes on all of us here in America and across the world. It is a pretty straightforward vote, although it is an interesting procedural problem. The vote is a Congressional Review Act vote to repeal the repeal of the regulation on the release of methane from oil and gas, both drilling and transportation. A repeal of a repeal is the legislative equivalent of a double negative, and, of course, we all know a double negative produces a positive, and that is exactly what will happen in this case. Some years ago, regulations were imposed upon the oil and gas industry to control the escape of methane from drilling operations. This isn't about natural gas or oil; this is about fugitive gases that escape into the atmosphere as part of the drilling process or the transportation process. The problem is that methane is the nuclear weapon of climate change. Methane is 80 times as dangerous as CO<INF>2</INF> in the atmosphere, in terms of capturing heat and contributing to climate change--80 times; not 80 percent more, not 8 times more, 80 times more. Now, the good news is methane only persists in the atmosphere for about 20 years; CO<INF>2</INF>, unfortunately, over 100 years.…”