On the recordJune 25, 2014
I thank the Chair. I am pleased to join my friend Senator Whitehouse from the great State of Rhode Island to talk about this important subject. In the past, we may not always have agreed on how to approach this problem, but at least we have come together to work on a solution together. That is very important. That is a rare thing in Washington, as the Presiding Officer knows. We are determined to see if we can find common ground to move forward. As the Senator suggested, the way we produce and consume energy in our States is quite different. I am the Mountain State, he is the Ocean State. Nonetheless, we both agree we need to strike a balance between the economy and the environment. One cannot go it alone. It takes a balance, if you will, in about anything we do in life, one that acknowledges the reality of the climate change, while also understanding that fossil fuels, more specifically coal that we produce so much of in our State, is such a part of our economy, is a vital part of our energy mix for decades to come. That is by the Department of Energy, the EAI's own claim. There is no doubt that 7 billion people have impacted our world's climate. Those who deny that I believe are wrong. A lot of them are my friends. I believe we have had an impact and we have a responsibility. But we need to know what is going on and the facts we are dealing with in the world today. There are more than 8 billion tons of coal consumed around the world each year.…
