Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to talk about something that is such an urgent challenge for our Nation and the world; that is, climate change. Over the weekend, we received the most recent and most dire warning of the costs of inaction yesterday when the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its report. It wasn't easy to break through the news in the last week. We all know there was a lot going on, but this one did. Why did this break through the news? First of all, it was such a comprehensive report. It was a product of 91 scientists from 40 countries. They looked at more than 6,000 studies, and they concluded, absent major changes in our greenhouse gas emissions, the devastating consequences of climate change are coming much sooner than previously expected. I think that is why it made front page news--because of the timeline. I think a lot of times people think of something that maybe their grandkids or great-grandkids are going to have to deal with, but, no, actually the pages in this room--young people today, people even in my generation--are going to have to be dealing directly with the frontline consequences of climate change. The report predicted that the atmosphere will warm up by as much as 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels by 2040. That is just over 20 years. Think about the pages in this room. Twenty years from now might seem long, but it is not that long at all.…”