Science Committee Democrats Call for Immediate Action to Combat Climate Change - Republicans Continue Denial of Climate Science
(Washington, DC) – Today, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a hearing to discuss the Administration’s Climate Action Plan with a focus on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposals to cut carbon emissions. The hearing was titled, “The Administration’s Climate Plan: Failure by Design.”
The Full Committee heard testimony from Dr. John Holdren, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President and Ms. Janet McCabe, Acting Assistant Administrator of the Office of Air and Radiation at the EPA.
Dr. Holdren commented on the hearing title saying, “I’d like to propose respectfully an alternative one –The Administration’s Climate Plan: Success through Science. That plan rests primarily on scientific and technological understandings in three categories: first, the natural science on anthropogenic climate change and its impacts on human well-being; second, technological analysis of the options for climate change mitigation and for increasing preparedness for/and resilience against the changes in climate that mitigation fails to avoid; and third, the economics associated with estimating both the costs of action and the cost of inaction on the climate change challenge. There is an immense amount of peer reviewed research on all three categories. An assessment summarizing the state of knowledge in all three has been carried out by a wide variety of respected national and international bodies.”
Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) said in her opening statement, “We in Congress have to acknowledge that we are not the experts, and that allowing partisan politics to distort the scientific understanding of climate change is cynical and short-sighted. We may not agree on where the uncertainties within climate science lie, but we should all be able to understand that vast and avoidable uncertainties will remain if we stop the progress of climate research.”
Democratic members and the two witnesses emphasized the very real and current impacts that climate change is having on communities across the country. In addition, the members and witnesses discussed how the Climate Action Plan can establish the U.S. as a leader in the international community’s effort to lower carbon emissions. The witnesses highlighted the numerous reports that have recently been published that thoroughly analyze the science behind climate change and the growing economic, public health, and environmental impacts of a warming climate.
During the hearing, Republican Members of the Committee continued to deny the overwhelming and well-documented scientific evidence behind climate change. Majority Members also ignored the economic evidence, and identified purported utility costs as the key reason to “do nothing” in the face of climate change.
However, in response to a question by Democratic Committee Member, Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL), Ms. McCabe said, “Our analysis predicts that electricity bills for American families will go down by 2030 by about 8%. And that’s a good thing for all of us because you get the improved environment, you get the pollution reductions of other pollutants that come with the carbon that will have an immediate impact on people in their neighborhoods and improve their health. And through increased use of energy efficiency they get lower electric bills.”
Ranking Member Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) of the Subcommittee on Environment said, “The threat of climate change brings serious economic consequences. Many Fortune 500 companies are now building the economic realities of climate change into their long-term business plans. Insurance companies are starting to account for the increased frequency of severe weather events. These things are happening and it is up to us as policy makers to act now to mitigate the damage.”
Related Content
Next Article Previous Article