Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I just want to say one thing about my colleague's amendment. She is making the case for the fact that we have to continue to drill for oil or natural gas in Colorado, and I understand the concerns that people have when the economy changes. I can imagine how difficult it is when people have to look at new opportunities as opposed to continuing the careers that they have always done. However, the reason we are here addressing this and the reason any changes would be made at a Federal level are because we are facing catastrophic climate change. The scientists have told us we have no time left to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel, and yet my colleague is talking about how we need to bring more fossil fuels back into our energy stream. We have made incredible strides with solar power, wind power, and all of the renewable energy we are investing in today. She talks about her role to protect Colorado. Well, my role is to protect the State of Maine. I invite the gentlewoman to come and visit anytime. The ocean in Maine is warming at a rate 99 percent faster than the oceans around the world. I talked to a fisherman this weekend when I was home, and I asked him how fishing was going this summer as the weather has warmed up and as the ocean has warmed up. We are seeing a serious depletion in the fishing stocks. They can't survive in warmer waters. They migrate to colder waters. They devastate the economy of our fishermen.…”