Tina Smith: “the Senate is engaged this week in a great debate, an important debate, on the vital issue of global climate change. I…”

“the Senate is engaged this week in a great debate, an important debate, on the vital issue of global climate change. I join that debate in order to find the best and most practical ways to ease our dependence on foreign oil, reduce pollution, and encourage clean energy. Climate change is real. It is a problem, and it needs our response-- for the sake of our economy, our environment, and our national security. Our country's energy future is one of the greatest challenges we will face in the coming decades. Addressing climate change is about what is good and what is right for our country, for our future. It is about how we reduce our reliance on foreign oil, develop a new sector in the American economy that will spur domestic manufacturing, and create millions of new jobs, all while reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions. These challenges are too great and the stakes are too high--America cannot take a backseat or sit on the sidelines. We simply must lead on this issue. We must make fundamental changes, and we must start now, today. We put a man on the Moon. We defeated communism. We even created an Internet world. Many thought the Internet was a fad, but look how it has changed our world in a decade. A renewable energy economy can and will do the same thing. America is an exporter of our thoughts, our ideas, our dreams, our ideals.…”