Political Quotes

“Mr. President, Theodore Roosevelt said: Of all the questions which can come before this Nation, short of the actual preservation of its existence in a great war, there is none which compares in importance with the great central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us. We should reconsider those words now in the context of carbon pollution--carbon pollution which is a direct assault to our rural resources, on our farming, fishing, and forestry. In Oregon we had three worst-ever droughts we have faced over a 13-year period, devastating to the farmers, their families, and the farm economy. In fishing, everyone who goes to their favorite trout stream knows that if there is no snowpack, the stream is warmer and smaller in summer and a poor place to fish, and certainly worse for iconic salmon and steelhead. The forests are burning, from pine beetles, which spread throughout the land in the context of not having those cold snaps in the winter, and in the context of tinderbox conditions on the forest floor. Those forest fires have been some of the worst we have seen in a century, and more is yet to come. We cannot wait for 20 or 30 or 40 years to act. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.”