Climate Crisis

Floor Speech

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.

Mr. Speaker, we are in a climate crisis, and it is going to take American leadership and ingenuity to solve it. But we think we can create jobs and a lot of opportunity when we solve the climate crisis. But what we are seeing right now are devastating health and economic consequences of climate change here all across America, whether it is wildfires out West, flooding in the midsection. We are approaching hurricane season with great trepidation. Extreme heat.

We have got to act urgently, guided by the science, working in concert with our allies across the globe to provide a livable climate for all Americans, especially for future generations.

We have got to harness the technological innovation of the Moon Shot. We have got to harness the creativity of our entrepreneurs, the strength of our workers, and the moral force of this great Nation that is working to establish justice for all. Because I believe that, working together, we will be able to avert the worst impacts of this climate emergency and build a stronger, healthier, fairer America.

But let's look at what is happening right now. People know this. The last 7 years were the hottest on record. You don't have to tell that to the folks out West right now. They are living through some of the hottest days--the hottest, driest days.

This is a departure from the 20th century average temperature. It just seems like these hotter days, the longer, hotter summers, are more frequent. And the science tells us that is true.

Why is this happening? Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is at record levels. People thought that, during the pandemic, greenhouse gases would dip and that might provide some salvation from the worst impacts of climate. But, see, these gases build up in the atmosphere. You don't get a bonus for any year.

In fact, NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has said no, despite the pandemic, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is at a record high.

This creates enormous costs on families and businesses here in America but also all across the planet. It impacts the air we breathe. It creates very severe health consequences. Think about the folks who have to work outside in the extreme heat and more polluted air while coming out of a pandemic.

Then, there is the cost, not just to the bottom line of the Federal budget, but the cost to all of us. In fact, last year alone, we suffered through about $100 billion, $96 billion, in damages from weather and climate disasters. That is just 1 year.

This is an enormous wake-up call for our great country and people all across the planet. We have waited too long to take ambitious action. The time is now. The time is urgent.

We don't have any more time for half measures, so we intend now to hammer out the most ambitious climate legislation that we have ever seen in order to answer the moral call that we have to future generations to make sure we give them a livable planet.

Mr. Speaker, we are joined tonight by a number of colleagues, who are going to speak from the heart and speak with great intelligence to provide a little science, a little know-how. I am really proud to stand with them on the floor of the House tonight.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, Congressman Casten, for bringing his intellect and his passion for solving the climate crisis to this Congress. It is needed now more than ever.

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, hearing my colleague speak with such passion and such intellect really does give me hope that we have the tools necessary to tackle the climate crisis. But I think we also need to think about climate as a climate opportunity, and there are a few of these.

Our newest colleague, Congresswoman Stansbury from New Mexico kind of hit on it. And it goes back to--I want to thank Mr. Casten--last year before the pandemic hit, Mr. Casten was kind enough to invite me to Chicago where we heard from environmental justice leaders. I also had the opportunity to travel to Detroit. I have listened to folks who are demanding greater equity all across America.

Back home in Tampa, Florida, I see it; I understand that now the climate crisis presents us with a generational opportunity to rebuild our country and our infrastructure, so we are not leaving communities behind and we are not leaving any American behind.

We can hammer out these investments that will help us rebuild the economy. Mr. Casten knows these examples quite well.

Decades ago, unfortunately, the Federal Government put interstate highways right through the center of many communities. The harms from the pollution still linger today. In fact, Black Americans are exposed to 21 percent more fine, particulate matter pollution than the average American. I just don't think we can pass an infrastructure package that ignores these injustices. We are going to have to create these new opportunities in solving the climate crisis, creating good paying jobs, but also lifting up Americans and American communities that have carried the burden of pollution.

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I think that is one of the reasons why President Biden's American Jobs Plan targets 40 percent of the benefits of our clean energy and clean infrastructure investments to disadvantaged communities. I think that is smart policy.

I think the gentleman is right. Right now, as we move into our clean energy future, President Biden has the goal of really helping communities that need revitalization. When you think about the hard work in a coal mine or out in the field, we owe such a debt of gratitude to our coal miners and the energy workers who have powered America. They have made it what it is over the last century. They ushered in the economic progress that we enjoy today.

But we now know, according to the science, that our overdependence on coal and fossil fuels and fracked gas has led to a crisis that now threatens our way of life. I wish it weren't so, but we have to now, at this fork in the road, decide that our moral obligation to future generations comes first.

With all of the opportunities that clean energy and greater and stronger and healthier communities can provide, we have got to hammer this out through the American Jobs Plan and make sure that we protect our economy, we protect our national security, our health, our beautiful natural resources from sea to shining sea, and the air that we breathe.

But we have some choices to make. We can double down on the status quo, even as these climate-fueled disasters claim more lives and they hurt the pocketbooks of folks.

I think of my neighbors back home in Florida now, the so-called Sunshine State. Boy, we have a lot of work to do to capture the power of the sun through solar energy, but we are paying more now because we have longer and hotter summers, it means AC bills are going up.

We have these intense flood events, so we are paying more for flood insurance and stormwater costs. Meanwhile a lot of these energy companies have kind of gotten off the hook over time.

What does the gentleman say about that?

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, well, what has been so fascinating is there are so many people in the room because they understand the opportunities, the job-creating opportunities through the American Jobs Plan.

Here we go. The American Jobs Plan will create 2.7 million new jobs. So let's talk about some of those jobs. I think about some of our colleagues who represent communities that have seen jobs go overseas over time, our industrial base.

We know what President Biden has proposed will help revitalize those communities; plug those abandoned coal mines; plug the abandoned wells; just plain plug the leaks of methane gas that are so damaging to the climate.

We think we can create millions and millions of jobs through a new CCC, a Climate Conservation Corps. We can strengthen our communities at home. I know we have got a lot of seawalls that need repair, a lot of replanting of trees and mangroves to help protect us from these very costly events. We know we need to modernize the electric grid across America.

Representative Casten, that is going to create an enormous amount of jobs in the Midwest because a lot of the renewable resources, your solar power, wind power, it is largely in the Midwest. We have got to build the modern electric grid.

Look at this horrendous catastrophe in Texas just a few months ago because the electric grid there was not connected. It wasn't modernized. It wasn't resilient. People lost their lives because of the strange, climate-fueled winter storm in Texas.

We are going to create a lot of jobs just modernizing and making the grid more resilient. And I haven't even gotten to the wind power, offshore wind, wind in the Midwest.

This is our future. This is why I like to think of it not just in the terms of a climate crisis, but a climate opportunity. And I think that is why President Biden says that every time he hears people talk climate, he hears jobs, jobs, jobs.

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Casten is right. You know, listing off all the job opportunities, the transportation sector, he is right.

And this is a global competitiveness issue. We have got to win this race with China and the Europeans. They are building those electric vehicles.

But how exciting was it to see the announcement from Ford and GM?

I can't wait to see this electrified F-150 truck, the Lightning.

This is an enormous opportunity, especially in the industrial Midwest that has really seen a lot of job loss over the years to China. We are going to get back on this, and the only way we can do it is through making these targeted investments.

We want to build the electric vehicles that the world drives. We want to make sure that that charging infrastructure goes coast to coast in every community.

But it is going to take the focus of America. And the good news is, all Americans--I don't care if you are a Democrat or Republican or Independent, or what, they understand that clean energy is the future; and that if we do it right, we can lift communities that need it; and we can create millions and millions of jobs.

Now, I started with the science. And we heard from some outstanding colleagues, and we are going to hear a lot more from them in the coming weeks as we hammer out the American Jobs Plan.

But there was one witness at one of our early hearings, Dr. Abdelhadi, who is an expert, who has been focused on climate for many years, and I want to just remind what he said.

He said: The limited actions to address this climate crisis have resulted in lost opportunity and have produced a challenge that is even greater than it was even a few years ago. With political and society will, and with strategic and scientifically informed action that considers all of the dimensions of climate change, the dangerous trajectory we are on can be altered, such that our generation's story can be one of success and not failure.

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