Jeff Merkley actually said...

"So I have been struck by how important this conversation is as one that has direct impacts on the ground right now."

"I think that is the foundation for this discussion."

"We have a significant problem with loss of snowpack in the Cascades, which is resulting in warmer streams."

"Since the prevailing winds go from west to east, when our forests are burning out in Oregon, California and Washington State, the rest of the Nation is experiencing those impacts."