Political Quotes

“I rise again for the 41st time to ask my colleagues to wake up to the threat of climate change. Today I come to discuss the serious risks that climate change poses to our energy sector. It is no controversial idea that our climate affects our energy infrastructure. In the Northeast, when we think about what causes power outages, we naturally think of bad weather. In fact, the American Society of Civil Engineers reports that between 2007 and 2012, weather- related events were the main cause of electrical outages in the United States. That same report said: ``The average cost of a one-hour power outage is just over $1000 for a commercial business,'' just for 1 hour. This takes a serious toll on our economy. A recent Department of Energy report has highlighted how sensitive our energy sector is to climate change and to extreme weather. In September 2011, the Department of Energy reports: High temperatures and high electricity demand-related loading tripped a transformer and transmission line near Yuma, Arizona, starting a chain of events that led to shutting down the San Onofre nuclear power plant with power lost to the entire San Diego County distribution system, totaling approximately 2.7 million power customers, with outages as long as 12 hours.…”