Tom Udall: “I support keeping the language in because, as the gentleman from Washington has said, it is very, very important to deal…”

“I support keeping the language in because, as the gentleman from Washington has said, it is very, very important to deal with this problem. Mr. Chairman, I am extremely disappointed that the Rules Committee did not protect the global warming language in the Interior Appropriations Bill. Global warming is real and human activities are largely to blame. Many scientists believe the erratic and record- breaking weather events we are seeing across the country, such as the prolonged droughts in my home state of New Mexico, are the direct result of global warming. The United States must act, and we must act soon. The language that was removed from the Interior Appropriations Bill today declared the need for a mandatory cap on greenhouse emissions. Stripping this language further shows the lack of political will of the House of Representatives on this issue. Mr. Chairman, global warming is perhaps the biggest problem that present and future generations of Americans will face. We cannot leave this to our children. Our colleagues in the Senate have already begun the much needed debate on this issue. In fact, they passed a sense of Congress exactly the same as the one that was stripped today. In addition, they held a day-long climate change forum that gathered stakeholders on this issue, including the leadership of numerous top American companies such as GE and Walmart.…”