On the recordSeptember 27, 2017
Mr. President, may I bid a public farewell to Emily Enderle, who is here with me and who has served as the lead on my very active and busy environment unit for quite some time now. She is going on to another role in Washington and will continue to serve our cause. She has done an amazing job, and I want to be sure to say that on what will be her last appearance on the floor with me for one of our ``Time to Wake Up'' speeches. Climate Change Mr. President, I have spoken before, as you know, about the fossil fuel industry's persistent effort to undermine public understanding of climate change and to confuse people about the actual effects of carbon pollution on our atmosphere and oceans. I have mentioned Drexel University Professor Robert Brulles' follow- the-money analysis, which reveals the complex network of organizations and funding--what we have called the web of denial--that is designed to obscure the fossil fuel industry's fingerprints and to perpetuate the fossil fuel industry's climate denial. Dr. Brulle calls this ``a deliberate and organized effort to misdirect the public discussion and distort the public's understanding of climate.'' That is what this industry is up to. One front group for that industry is called the Heartland Institute. It is a nice name, but they are not very nice people. For decades, the Heartland Institute has played a prominent role disseminating alternative facts and fake science at the behest of its industry funders.…





