Chellie Pingree

I thank the gentlewoman for sharing those stories. I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter).

I thank the gentlewoman very much for her thoughts. I am now happy to yield to my friend from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter).

I am pleased we are able to be here tonight to have an hour with some of my colleagues to continue this conversation about the hardships people are facing due to this shutdown and the impact it is having on our country. We have had so many…

Reserving the right to object. The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Maine is recognized on her reservation.

I don't know how the head of Environmental Protection Agency can have so little concern about climate change, so little concern about the impact on public health of these emissions, and make so many decisions that go in the opposite…

We do have a pretty good sense of what is happening. You hear from most car companies, they are moving to electric cars.

It just seems to me that you don't take this seriously that there is something going on in our atmosphere...

There are a lot of studies and statistics that show that we have all saved a lot of money for having higher fuel efficiency standards.

We have high rates of childhood asthma, we have red air alert days.

I have no idea why would you want to roll back emission standards on vehicles.

I find those statements unacceptable. I can't go home and tell my district... that there might be some good impacts to climate change.

To actively deny that we are now experiencing the effect of climate change... we don't have time to blame the last Congress.

But with all due respect, I mean, we are going to talk about a lot of things, CAFE standard, Clean Power Rule.

How do I go home and tell them that the Administrator of the EPA doesn't want to put resources in this, doesn't actually believe in it?

I represent the State of Maine. We are part of the Gulf of Maine, which is warming at a rate about 99 percent faster than the oceans around the world.

I have to say, I want to focus my concerns on some of the severe policy disagreements that I have with you.

Thank you to all of you for being here today and for the work you are doing to help take care of the health of our tribes.

Humans have an impact on climate change. I am done with that.

Coastal waters are too precious to drill for oil.

I personally don't want to see it edited to remove any reference to that.

I certainly will look forward to seeing the draft. I think you, in fact, made a lot of good arguments about why Maine should be exempted.

I think this has been very upsetting to people in Maine.

Our fishermen are up in arms about this possible idea and the potential damage that could be done.

We have had enormous concerns from our constituents about the possibilities of doing this.

I think we have a lot of similarities within our natural resource space and other issues.