On the recordJuly 10, 2014
In closing, let me say that Federal agencies have a responsibility to calculate the costs of climate change and to take them into account. This amendment would tell the Department to ignore those impacts, and that, in my judgment, is irresponsible. The administration is using common sense, and that was the clear message from the Government Accountability Office when it added climate change to its high-risk list. That is exactly what the Obama administration is doing. An interagency task force worked over the last couple of years to estimate the costs of harm from carbon pollution. The cost calculation was first issued in 2010, and a refined and updated calculation was published last year. It incorporated updated scientific and technical information, and it was a very conservative calculation. The full costs of climate change are almost certainly going to be significantly higher, but it is better than the previous estimate, and it is much, much better than assuming that the costs are zero. So I urge my colleagues to reject the Lankford amendment. Again, don't be a science denier. Let's not pretend climate change doesn't exist. That won't make it go away. Let's behave as though we care about future generations and are doing our very best to meet the challenges of the current era. I yield back the balance of my time.
