Save Our Homes--Save Our Planet

Floor Speech

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Mr. PANETTA. Mr. Speaker, over this August break, my family and I left our house, not because it was vacation season but because it was wildfire season, and we were some of the thousands of people that were evacuated from our homes. Now, thanks to the amazing work of firefighters and first responders, we had a house to come home to, but as we know, many others were not as lucky.

You see, the American West, including my district on the Central Coast of California, is experiencing destructive wildfires where we are not just victims of these conflagrations, but we are also witnesses to the climate crisis.

Our climate is hotter. Our countrysides are drier, and our communities are more vulnerable to this type of devastation. We can't ignore it. We can't deny it, but we can pass the Climate Action Rebate plan to reduce our carbon output. We can pass the bipartisan Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act, and we can pass the bipartisan REPLANT Act.

This is not a binary choice. We can do both. If we don't act, our fire seasons will turn into fire years. But if we do act with commonsense legislation in Congress, we will save not just our homes, we will save this planet.

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