Secure Elections Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, I thank Senator Whitehouse for his unwavering commitment to elevating the urgent need for all of us to take action on climate change.
Since 2012, Senator Whitehouse has given over 200 speeches on climate change--faithfully, passionately, intellectually--and has warned us of what is to come if we don't get our act together. So I thank Senator Whitehouse. I am proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with him in the fight to save this Earth. This is on all of us.
The facts are in. The science is irrefutable. Climate change is real. It is real, and it is happening every single day all around us. It is not made up. It is not a Chinese hoax. It is the most existential threat our world has ever known, and we are not doing enough to stop it. That is why I wanted to be here tonight to stand with my friend and my colleague Senator Whitehouse to ring the alarm. It is time for us to wake up.
As I think about the consequences of inaction, I can't help but reflect on the financial crisis that nearly destroyed our global economy 10 years ago. Millions of hard-working people lost their jobs, millions lost their homes, and millions lost their savings. The financial crisis nearly tore apart the global economy for a whole variety of reasons, but the failure to act on credible, verifiable data is what nearly destroyed our economy.
It didn't have to happen. We could have prevented it. Yet here we are again, ignoring clear and blatant warnings of another financial disaster in the making. The evidence is mounting every single day with fires blazing out of control, extreme storms and hurricanes, rising sea levels, and warming oceans. Our planet is in danger, which means our economy is in danger.
Recent data show that a major climate-related disaster could trigger a global financial crisis, the likes of which our economy has never seen. Now, I don't say that to predict some kind of doomsday disaster. This is a real and present threat to our global economy, and here is why: The driving cause of climate change is emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases from humans in their burning of fossil fuels. We are causing this every day.
Scientists estimate that humans can only burn so much more carbon before causing a global temperature rise of 2 degrees. A 2-degree rise in temperatures would be devastating--rising sea levels, droughts, famine. Yet, as of today, the worldwide oil and gas industry has carbon reserves that already far exceed the amount of carbon we can burn to stay under the 2-degree temperature rise.
So what does that actually mean?
All of these carbon resources will become less and less valuable as the environmental costs of burning carbon become more and more severe. That will devastate the global coal, oil, and gas industries. One estimate is that 82 percent of all coal reserves, 49 percent of global gas reserves, and 33 percent of global oil reserves could go unused. Some experts predict that we will cause the value of fossil fuel companies to be cut in half, with the U.S. potentially losing its entire oil and gas industry. That could make the 2008 financial crisis look like a walk in the park. That is what is at stake for our global system.
What about here at home?
Listen to this: Rising sea levels and spreading flood plains appear likely to destroy billions of dollars in property and to displace millions of people. ``The economic losses and social disruption may happen gradually, but they are likely to be greater in total than those experienced in the housing crisis and Great Recession.''
Who wrote that? Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored company that is responsible for buying millions of mortgages every year. That is not some partisan view; that is a cold-eyed assessment of the likely damage that climate change will cause to our economy and to our citizens.
Another recent study, conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists, found that over the next 30 years, 311,000 homes will be in danger of being flooded every 2 weeks--311,000. That means more than half a million Americans could have their homes inundated with water multiple times every single month. Think about the financial toll the constant flooding will take on these families and the homes. Well, after being bombarded with saltwater over and over again, a coastal property meltdown would be inevitable.
Yet here is what gives me comfort and why I am inspired to work with Senator Whitehouse and why I am inspired by his work and why I had to be here tonight. We can prevent this crisis, but only if we act. It is going to take public-private partnerships, CEOs, and Members of Congress to work together to prepare for the worst. That means companies need to begin including the risk of climate change in their investment and risk management practices.
Climate change can be an economic opportunity if we act boldly and decisively, which is something I know Senator Whitehouse will address shortly. If we fail to act, it will be a financial catastrophe as well as an environmental catastrophe, and it will put the 2008 financial crisis to shame. We know it is coming; we need the political will to do something about it.
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