On the recordJuly 30, 2010
Republicans and Democrats mourned the losses in the gulf, and it is very disappointing that my Republican friends will not stand to try to prevent this tragedy. The fact is, oil is killing the oceans in many ways--in one way, in a small way, by this giant oil slick, but in a large way because of carbon pollution. I just think we can't have this debate without recognizing this. In fact, every oil well that we drill puts carbon pollution in the atmosphere when we burn that oil. That carbon pollution then goes into the oceans, into solution, and that carbon pollution makes carbonic acid. The oceans today are 30 percent more acidic because of the oil we burn. Let me show you what this has done to the bottom of the food chain. This is a picture of plankton, what happens when you expose it to ocean water that is as acidic as it will be at the end of the century; plankton dissolve in the water. This bill is not too much; if anything, it is too little. Our Nation needs an energy policy so we stop carbon pollution. That is America's destiny.
