Political Quotes

“I thank the Senator for the good work he is doing. What I would like to do is just pick up on a point Senator Whitehouse just raised; that is, the record of history shows us that we cannot take the climate for granted. Our relatively limited experience of advancement over the last 10,000 years, during the time of stable climate on a planet that is billions of years old, has distorted our view of the Earth's complex climate system. A recent National Academy of Sciences report stated: . . . it seems clear that the Earth's future will be unlike the climate that ecosystems and human societies have been accustomed to during the last 10,000 years. . . . That is the point Senator Whitehouse just made, and that is according to the National Academy of Sciences. The reason is that human activities--primarily the burning of fossil fuels--are increasing greenhouse gas emissions and causing global warming. According to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, ``global warming is unequivocal and primarily human induced.'' We have altered the climate that has sustained humanity for the last 10,000 years. We are now at 392 parts per million of carbon dioxide, up from 280 parts per million in the 18th century. What an extraordinary increase in carbon dioxide in that short period of time. And greenhouse gas levels are rising steadily. In fact, carbon dioxide levels are increasing faster than at any time on record, according to our EPA.…”