Political Quotes

“I thank Chairwoman Johnson for yielding time, also for her leadership on the committee, and I thank Chairwoman Johnson and Ranking Member Lucas for their support of this legislation. I rise today in support of the Coastal and Ocean Acidification Stressors and Threats, or COAST, Research Act, my bipartisan bill to expand scientific research and monitoring of ocean and coastal acidification. According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment, catastrophic carbon dioxide concentrations are now higher than at any time in the last 3 million years. Approximately one-third of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissolves into our oceans and estuaries, causing them to become more acidic. In addition to atmospheric carbon dioxide, our oceans, estuaries, and coastal waterways are absorbing chemical inputs and excess nutrient runoff from land and coastal pollution. Our understanding of the long-term consequences of changes in water chemistry on our marine ecosystem is still limited, but we do know that ocean and coastal acidification make it difficult for marine organisms to build their shells and skeletal structures. Some finfish, including endangered salmon in the Pacific Northwest, lose their sense of smell that they use for identifying prey, reproducing, and navigating their habitats. Ocean acidification events are only projected to become more intense, longer, and increasingly common, especially on the Pacific Coast.…”