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Floor Speech

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Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, go outside. It is hard to breathe. The Sun is darkened. The air smells of ash and cinder. Children cannot go to school or even go outside. An unmasked deep breath outside is a risk. On the east coast, it is an ungodly dystopian landscape, the stuff of science fiction, movies set in Martian landscapes, except it is right now, and it is right here.

This week, other than 9/11, New York City registered the worst air quality in the world. Climate change means more heat in the atmosphere, with record high temperatures in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, and even Burlington, VT. These high temperatures get locked into place by record-setting high-pressure zones--making ``heat domes'' of sunny, hot weather that sits on top of the landscape, drying it out like an oven. More heat, less water--that is fuel for fire.

And we have seen it coming. Climate change has made this pattern more frequent and more intense. And if you don't believe me, if you don't think that this is a new phenomenon prompted by climate change, then ask yourself, when was the last time that New York or Philadelphia experienced something of this magnitude?

It would be disturbing enough to call this the new normal, but it is not the new normal because every year, it is going to get worse until we tackle this problem head-on.

This isn't just a forest fire. This is a climate fire because our entire climate is on fire. These wildfires are not just an occurrence. They are a condition, and the condition is only getting worse. Over the past 20 years, the area of land consumed annually by wildfires has doubled. In some parts of the West, that area is expected to grow sixfold--six times the fires, six times the smoke--which means harmful and dangerous air quality days for our youngest and our oldest, for those with asthma and respiratory disease and other health conditions.

When trees die in a wildfire, they release the carbon that is stored within them into the atmosphere. In that sense, you could look at each burning tree as being a kind of a massive exhaust pipe, spewing carbon up into the atmosphere and contributing to global warming. These fires aren't just the product of climate change; these fires are producing climate change. Additionally, once a tree fully burns, that particular tree is gone for good and can no longer reclaim atmospheric carbon and sequester it safely.

Those of us who have been fighting the climate crisis for decades take no joy in being right. None of us can take a deep breath outside on the east coast right now and not be at risk. But if we ignore this moment, if we don't take advantage of the searing example right in front of us, then we ignore a duty to act. Our public health is at risk. Our very lungs are at risk. There might be a veil of smoke outside, but let's not veil our sight to the need for climate solutions.

There is no mystery here. When you superheat the planet and create searing heat over densely wooded forests, fires are not a surprise. They are the logical outcome of your actions. The future is here right now. Today, we talk about fires. In September, we will talk about hurricanes. In the winter, we will talk about a polar vortex. And in the spring, we will talk about flood and drought before next summer, when we will talk about fires all over again, until we finally talk about the thing we should be talking about, which is how we reduce the emissions, end of this cycle of self-destruction, and secure a safe and stable planet once and for all for everyone.

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