Jay Inslee: “2 weeks ago I was at the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, where the Bush administration wants to drill for oil. While we will be…”

“2 weeks ago I was at the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, where the Bush administration wants to drill for oil. While we will be debating whether to change that precious intact ecosystem, I wanted to advise Members that we are already changing the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. The reason we are changing it is that we are already causing global climate change, global warming. What I found at the Arctic ocean is that the ice pack in the Arctic Ocean is shrinking significantly, almost a 50 percent reduction in depth, a 10 percent reduction in coverage. I went to Denali National Park. The rangers told me that the tree line is moving north already due to global climate change. We are already changing the Arctic. When the world met in Bonn 2 days ago to try to do something about it, the Bush administration sent the United States to the bench and did absolutely nothing. We as a leader in democracy abdicated, due to the Bush administration's ostrich like-proposals to do anything about global climate change. I am urging the Bush administration to act, to lead the country and lead the world to do something meaningful about climate change so we do not destroy the world.”