Keystone XL Pipeline Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHATZ. Madam President, yesterday I offered an amendment to the
Keystone XL bill which is really straightforward and will not affect
the underlying legislation. I do think it has the potential to get
strong bipartisan support. That is because my amendment states a simple
set of facts--that climate change is real and humans are contributing
to it.
This is an opportunity for people on either side of the Keystone
debate to agree on something; that is, the facts. It will inform, I
think, what happens next in energy policy. As intense as this debate
over this pipeline is, the real question in front of us, after we
dispose of this legislation and it goes to the President's desk for a
certain veto, is that then we have to contend with our national energy
policy.
We need to agree on the set of facts that everyone outside of this
Congress agrees on. These claims require evidence, and my amendment
provides those pieces of evidence. It cites the final supplemental
environmental impact statement prepared for the Keystone Pipeline by
the State Department, which says that ``human activities . . . have
added to the greenhouse gas accumulation and exacerbated the greenhouse
. . . effect, resulting in greater amounts of heat being trapped in the
atmosphere.''
Now, this is not controversial. It also states: ``These climate
change shifts can . . . affect other processes and spark changes that
cascade through natural systems to affect ecosystems, societies, and
human health.'' Only in the halls of Congress is this a controversial
piece of legislation.
This impact statement, in turn, cites the work of thousands of
scientists who have contributed to reports by the IPCC, the National
Research Council, and the U.S. Global Change Research Program. These
independent factfinding bodies have conducted decades of research on
questions related to climate change. They have been subject to intense
scrutiny both internally and externally. Their work has held up to
repeated concerns about impartiality and accuracy.
This scrutiny helps. It has forced these organizations to improve
their methodology and be increasingly deliberate as they develop their
findings and present the facts and only the facts. Human-caused climate
change is accepted by Fortune 500 companies, school teachers, religious
groups, and the U.S. Department of Defense. It is accepted by nurses
and doctors, professional sports leagues, the majority of other
countries, more than 97 percent of scientists, and many of my
colleagues in the House and Senate.
For most people, climate change existing is not a controversial
issue. Certainly, the Keystone Pipeline is a controversial issue. Once
we together set the premise of climate change facts, there is plenty to
argue about. What approach ought we take with respect to
solving this problem? Is a carbon tax the right approach? Is the
President's clean powerplant the right approach? Ought we to wait for
or accelerate our actions with respect to international coalitions and
agreements?
Those are legitimate debates to have. But we have to agree on the
facts. That is why a vote on my amendment is so important. The Senate
has before it a bill to approve a pipeline and an environmental impact
statement touted by Keystone supporters as a comprehensive, accurate
document that impartially assesses the environmental impacts of the
pipeline. Within that impact statement is a comprehensive review and an
acknowledgment of the reality of the facts of climate change.
Many of my colleagues who support Keystone might be the same ones who
question the reality of climate change, but I want to try to create a
political space where one can be for Keystone XL and still want action
on the climate. Now, I think Keystone XL is the wrong direction to move
in. I think it is absolutely doubling down on fossil fuel energy and
the tar sands oil. So I will be voting against Keystone.
But I understand there are people of good faith and plenty of
knowledge who are going to be supporting the pipeline. What we need to
do after this legislation is disposed of--and it will be relatively
quickly--is agree on a set of facts and move forward with intelligent,
bipartisan climate policy.
Last week, we learned that 2014 was the hottest year on record
according to two separate studies by our Nation's brightest scientists
at NASA and NOAA. That means that the 10 hottest years on record have
all occurred since the year 2000. A warmer planet means big changes in
weather patterns, rising sea levels, and increases in extreme weather
events.
Sea level has been rising more than twice as fast since 1990 as it
did over the previous century, nearly doubling the likelihood of storm
surges such as the one we experienced during Hurricane Sandy. Over the
years, the issue of climate change has, unfortunately, become a
partisan issue. It did not used to be that way. It does not need to be
that way going forward.
We may not agree on the solutions, on the path forward or even on
some of the details, but I do believe it is time for us to begin to
agree on a basic set of facts. The purpose of my amendment is to take a
step back, to take a deep breath on a very contentious issue, and to
give the Senate an opportunity to come together and state with no value
judgment that we accept the work of thousands of the world's brightest
and most dedicated scientists, including those working at U.S. agencies
and for U.S. companies; that we accept the reality our farmers, our
fisherman, and our families see with the every passing season.
I urge all of my colleagues to vote for this amendment. It is an
opportunity to restate a set of facts with which a majority of
Americans already agree. It makes no presumptions about where we go
from here.
I am hopeful that we will have a big bipartisan vote this afternoon
on this amendment. I think there is an opportunity for common ground.
Obviously, Keystone XL is dividing not just this Congress but the
Democratic conference, so I understand that. But agreeing on the set of
facts related to climate change is a good predicate for all of us
moving forward.
I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
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Mr. SCHATZ. Thank you, Mr. President.
This has been a surprisingly productive day on the issue of climate
debate. I know there has been a lot of consternation and discussion,
but that is a good thing.
We have one final amendment to consider today, and it simply takes a
portion of the language from the EIS for the Keystone XL and adopts it.
That language says, in summary, that climate change is real and that
climate change is caused by humans.
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Mr. SCHATZ. That language simply states that climate change is real,
that climate change is caused by humans and principally by carbon
pollution.
So the simple vote in front of us is: Do you agree with the factual
evidence? Will you concede to the facts? We have an opportunity to set
a new chapter in this climate debate. Today has been good progress.
So I urge my colleagues for a big bipartisan vote on this amendment.
I yield the floor.
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