Replant Act is Practical Legislation

Floor Speech

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Mr. PANETTA. Madam Speaker, what I am about to show you are the examples of the cycle of destruction from the climate crisis in my home district on the central coast of California.

Last year, my district was victim to a brutal wildfire season in which almost 650,000 acres were burned. What was left behind in many of those areas is called a burn scar, ground that has crusted and is hard for water to penetrate. As a result, when it rains, it leads to floods, mudslides, and devastation, including this damage to Highway 1 in Big Sur, in which water and debris flowed down the hills, blocked the culverts, then flowed up over Highway 1, and took out the road from that side.

Now, we know we have a lot of work to do when it comes to reducing our carbon output. In the meantime, we can stop this type of damage with reforestation of burn scar areas.

That is why I will reintroduce the REPLANT Act, to fund those types of projects, and I plan to work on bipartisan legislation to help manage forests to prevent fires and not just suppress them. It is that type of reasonable and practical legislation that is the foundation for how we in Congress can protect our communities and prevent the effects of the climate crisis.

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