Climate Security Act of 2008 - Motion to Proceed - Continued

Floor Speech

CLIMATE SECURITY ACT OF 2008--MOTION TO PROCEED--Continued -- (Senate - June 03, 2008)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, first, I extend my gratitude to Senator Boxer for her extraordinary leadership on this issue, a bipartisan issue, with Senator Lieberman, Senator Warner, and so many others on both sides of the aisle.

In the history of our country and of this great institution, the Senate, there have been many occasions when Senators have come to the floor and spoken of threats to the security of the United States of America. Those threats usually came in the form of dictators or ideologies such as communism and fascism, and we mobilized American opinion behind fighting those threats. We asked great sacrifices from our people to come forward to make sure future generations would enjoy the freedoms and opportunities we enjoy today, which many take for granted.

The debate today is about another threat, a very real threat, to the future not only of the United States but to all the countries in the world. It is a common threat. This bill is about reducing carbon pollution that causes global warming. It uses free market incentives to protect American jobs and creates international sanctions for those countries that do not participate. It is a tried and true approach. We have used this very same approach, as this bill suggests, to successfully reduce acid rain. So we know it works. We know how compelling it is for us to move on it, and move on it quickly. Delay on this subject will mean even greater sacrifices in the future. In fact, it may reach a point where it is not even feasible to address the issue.

We are all concerned about the cost of fuel, whether it is gasoline or diesel fuel or heating oil or jet fuel. The stark reality is, this bill will bring us to a new attitude and a new approach: more fuel efficiency, driving the same miles using less fuel, with less carbon pollution, and fewer emissions.

This bill drives us forward in a positive way to deal with the needs of our economy and to keep the costs of energy within the grasp of families and businesses and farmers.

Secondly, the bill focuses on creating new jobs, the jobs of our future. In this country and in the world will be jobs that really look to the environment as a major element in costing out things. It is no longer just the cost of bringing a ton of steel halfway around the world from China. It is also the carbon cost of transporting that steel that has to be taken into consideration. That is a very real cost.

When we start thinking in terms of fuel efficiency, the United States can use the same kind of entrepreneurial spirit and innovative spirit that has been such a successful engine to our economy in the years gone by, whether it has been the Silicon Valley or medical technology. The United States can lead again because we have the economy and the talent to get in the front of this parade and to stay there when it comes to job and business creation.

It is also a question of public health. We know global warming is going to create an environment where many will suffer; pulmonary disease, such as asthma, cancers, such as melanoma, are going to increase if we do not get serious about this issue. I think we understand that. For the good of our children and grandchildren, and for our desire to make sure they have better and longer lives than ourselves, this bill is extremely important.

Finally, this whole issue of global warming is an issue that really addresses stability in our world. It is no surprise that some of the tinder boxes--and I do not mean any pun by that--some of the tinder boxes in the world today are countries in desperate straits trying to find water for their people. It is a huge issue in the Middle East. It is also an issue in Africa. When that issue has become its most extreme, we find genocide in Darfur, we find turmoil in other parts of the world and instability. Coming to grips with global warming, stabilizing our global climate, is a way for us to try to bring some peace and stability to this world.

When you think about the parameters of this debate, could you think of anything more serious? How can we face our children and grandchildren if we do not honestly debate this issue, if we do not step up and say: On our watch, at our time, our generation did the right thing?

We cannot undo what has been done in the past, generations gone by, centuries in the past. But we are responsible for now and for the future.

This is our chance to move forward. I beg my colleagues, even if you find differences and difficulties with the bill, let's work together.

Senator Warner, I am glad you are here. We would not be here without you, and that is a fact. You have shown a bipartisan spirit to address this issue, and you have taken a little bit of grief from your side of the aisle. Well, trust me, many of us appreciate your leadership on this issue, and it will be long remembered.

In that spirit--Senator Warner, Senator Lieberman, Senator Boxer, and others--we need to say to future generations: We can come together, both parties, and take on this challenge successfully.

I yield the floor.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source