Climate Change

Floor Speech

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this morning there was a scene on television I had never seen before. In fact, the commentators said they had never seen it either.

I might preface this by saying I grew up in the Midwest. Tornadoes are a part of our lives. I cannot recall how many times I was rousted out of my bed in the middle of the night as the sirens were going on outside and mom and dad would take me to the basement. That is what we did as I grew up in the Midwest. Tornadoes were part of our lives.

This morning showed what happened in Nebraska yesterday to be a virtually unique occurrence--twin tornadoes came ripping through the State of Nebraska killing people and destroying lives and businesses and homes and farms. There was a reflection on this about how the weather seems to be getting more extreme in this country. Are we getting more and more extreme weather events, many of which are very destructive? I think the clear answer is yes. Don't trust a politician or even an environmentalist for that answer. Go to the people who do this for a living. That is what I did. I held a hearing and called the leaders from the property and casualty insurance companies. They do this for a living, and they said not only are we getting more extreme weather events, they are much more expensive than ever before. The destruction is much larger. So many insurance companies, because of these extreme weather events, are starting to charge higher premiums and backing off of coverage. They said they can't create a reserve for the possibility of an extreme weather event that would be so destructive.

There are some people who hear what I just said and say: Well, God has his ways--or her ways--and God may decide the weather is going to be a lot tougher for you in this generation than in other generations. I heard that back home. But there are some people who believe--and I am one of them--that this is not just God's work, this has something to do with our work on this planet.

I happen to believe carbon pollution is a challenge, not just for America but for the world, and we need to reduce carbon pollution, which is changing the planet we live on. Because of carbon pollution, this warming climate--this warming planet--is creating situations which are troubling.

There was an article in the paper over the weekend.

Norfolk, VA--not a liberal bastion--is now taking steps because of the rising ocean. It is up about a foot and a half from what they knew as the standard and they expect it to grow even more, threatening buildings, commerce, and homes all around that area. The impact of climate change and carbon pollution is evident in every direction of this world.

I have said this on the floor four or five times and I will repeat it: There is only one major political party in the world today that denies climate change and denies these extreme weather events have anything to do with our activity on Earth. The Republican Party of the United States of America is in denial. So when they deny the premise that something is happening on this Earth that we need to think about and worry about, it is easy to dismiss any and every effort to deal with it.

The Senator who spoke before me is from my neighboring State of Kentucky. His coal fields abut my coal fields in Southern Illinois, so we have a common energy resource. But I will say in all honesty, if we want to use the energy resource of coal in Illinois, we have to change the way we use it to reduce pollution. I think we can do that. It will be better technology in the electrical powerplants and uses something that is underway in our State: carbon capturing sequestration. Imagine if we could take the carbon pollution that is headed for the atmosphere that causes the problem and never let it reach the atmosphere.

That is what we are going to do. We are going to dig deep into the Earth over 1 mile down under three levels of shale rock and store compressed CO2 so it doesn't go into the atmosphere. Carbon capturing sequestration, that is not a war on coal; that is a war on our energy problems and a responsible approach for dealing with coal.

I think that is the honest answer to my friends in Southern Illinois and those who value the coal industry and what it means to our economy. We have to be thoughtful, reflective, and innovative in making certain we use the energy resources we have responsibly and leave this Earth in a situation where our children and grandchildren will say our generation did not ignore the obvious.

Twin tornadoes in Nebraska are an indicator to me that time is not on our side. We have to step up. Both parties have to step up and find solutions that are responsible.

Source