Political Quotes

“Mr. President, as an engineer one of the things I learned early in my education was that science does not care if you believe in it or not; you can deny science as much as you want, but the data suggests that the scientific method works pretty darn well. The corollary to that fact is whether you believe in climate change has no bearing on whether it is actually occurring. Unfortunately, the data shows a warmer and warmer planet, characterized by weather fluctuations that are more extreme and oftentimes more destructive. In my home State of New Mexico, too often we find ourselves dealing with the impacts of climate change today, not at some theoretical future date. For example, we are already seeing the effects of climate change and how it manifests itself in more extreme drought conditions, larger and more intense wildfires, shrinking forests, and increased flooding when it finally does rain. The longer we wait to act, the more difficult and expensive the solutions will be, and the more unpredictable our weather will become. 2012, as the Senator from Vermont mentioned, was our Nation's second most extreme year for weather on record. In my home State of New Mexico, we experienced the hottest year in our entire historical record. With humidity levels lower and temperatures higher, we are dealing with fire behavior in our forests that is markedly more intense than in the past. We also see climate change take a toll directly on our economy, especially in my State.…”