Global Climate Change

The world's leading atmospheric scientists tell us that the warming of our planet is real. It is happening as a result of human activities and is not a natural occurrence. The scientific debate is largely over ---- global climate change is a large and growing threat to our environment, our economic prosperity and our way of life.

Especially in coastal areas like the Cape and Islands, we are already seeing changes in our natural environment linked to global climate change. Sea levels are gradually rising, glaciers are melting, and animals are being forced from their native habitat. The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade. Even the number of severe storms and droughts is increasing. The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years.

Meeting the challenge of global warming will require a sustained effort on the part of all nations; on the part of industry, who must innovate, manufacture, and operate in more sustainable ways; and on the part of the public, who must also make more climate-friendly purchases and lifestyle decisions. Most importantly, it will require leadership from the United States on a global scale.

President Barack Obama has rightfully placed tackling the twin challenges of climate change and energy security at the top of his agenda.

I am particularly interested in the promise of green jobs to get our economy moving again and make the United States a leader in building a new clean energy economy.

There is no greater priority for our country right now than to stimulate the economy and to create new jobs through boosting public investments in infrastructure and in new clean energy projects. These are the industries of the future and will create millions of new jobs in our country and thousands here in Massachusetts. American leadership in alternative energy will bring with it new economic opportunities for business, and new jobs for our workers and families.

The Obama-Biden New Energy for America plan calls for investing $150 billion over the next ten years in several clean energy initiatives. It calls for 10 percent of our electricity coming from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025 as well as implementing a cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

A recent analysis by the University of Massachusetts-Amherst concluded that a $100 billion dollar national Clean Energy initiative will:

• Create nearly four times more total jobs than spending the same amount of money within the oil industry, and 300,000 more jobs than a similar amount of spending directed toward household consumption.
• Create three times the number of good jobs — paying at least $16 dollars an hour — as spending the same amount of money within the oil industry.
• Reduce the unemployment rate to 4.4 percent from 5.7 percent (calculated within the framework of U.S. labor market conditions in July 2008).
• Bolster employment especially in construction and manufacturing. Construction employment has fallen from 8 million to 7.2 million jobs over the past two years due to the housing bubble collapse. The Green Recovery program can, at the least, bring back these lost 800,000 construction jobs.

I have long been strong supporter of the Safe Climate Act, authored by Representative Henry Waxman of California. This legislation calls for aggressive measures to fight global warming by setting meaningful targets for the reduction of air pollutants and greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. Many of the provisions are similar to those that have been adopted in California, where greenhouse emissions will be reduced by 25% by 2020. If enacted at a national level, this legislation would establish a cap-and-trade approach for carbon emissions and make the United States an international leader in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. I expect that this legislation will be the template for global warming legislation expected to be taken up by the 111th Congress.

As a member of the House Renewable Fuels and Energy Efficiency Caucus, and the Biofuels Caucus, I have cosponsored a number of legislative proposals that place a greater emphasis on energy efficiency, higher automobile mileage standards, public transportation and expanded use of alternative and renewable energy sources.

In the 110th Congress, I introduced the Biofuels Security Act (H.R. 559), an innovative legislative proposal that is aimed at increasing the production, distribution and consumption of renewable fuels such as cellulosic ethanol and bio-diesel. Senators Harkin, Lugar and Obama have introduced a similar proposal in the Senate.

Specifically, the legislation proposes a new renewable fuels standard (RFS) that calls for 60 billion gallons of ethanol and biodiesel to be included in the United States motor vehicle fuel supply annually by the year 2030, calls for increasing the number of gasoline stations that carry blends of 85% ethanol (E85) -- a measure that would result in approximately 50% of all major brand gasoline stations nationwide offering E-85 within 10 years, and directs automakers to gradually increase flex-fuel vehicle (FFV) production, increasing in ten percentage-point increments annually, until nearly all vehicles sold in the United States are FFV's within 10 years.

In December 2007, Congress finalized the Energy Independence and Security Act, an historic bill to make America more energy independent, respond to the global warming crisis, and grow our economy. This was a move that I strongly supported The legislation:

• Strengthens national security, by lessening our dependence on foreign oil
• Reduces global warming
• Lowers energy costs for consumers
• Creates hundreds of thousands of new jobs and strengthens our economy

This agreement builds on the New Direction for Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 3221, and H.R. 2776). With Congress passed this measure, we committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 by up to 24 percent of what the U.S. needs to do to help save the planet, saving American families $700 to $1,000 a year at the pump, and slashing U.S. oil consumption by more than 4 million barrels per day by 2030.

On September 16, 2008, the House passed the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act, H.R. 6899 The legislation is a bold step forward, helping end our dependence on foreign oil and increase our national security. It launches a clean renewable energy future that creates new American jobs, expands domestic energy supply--including new offshore drilling, and invents and builds more efficient vehicles, buildings, homes, and infrastructure. It will lower costs to consumers and protect the interests of taxpayers. It is a comprehensive strategy, and the product of bipartisan compromise.

As a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I will be doing all I can to build on the proposals passed by the 110th Congress, while promoting a foreign policy that makes the United States a leader on global environmental issues.

Closer to home, there are many ways that individual Americans can begin to mitigate the impact of their actions on climate change. Americans can conserve energy at home, purchase more energy efficient products and cars, and use ethanol-blended gasoline and public transportation more often. To help learn more about this issue, what you can do and the efforts of local organizations, I have listed these helpful websites.

International and National Organizations

• The Climate Project
• U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, maintained by the Mayor of Seattle
• The Five Milestones from Cities for Climate Protection Program
• Cool Cities
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Report of Climate Impacts on the Northeast from the Union of Concerned Scientists

Local Organizations

• Cape Cod Renewable Fuels Partnership
• Town of Provincetown's Climate Protection Page
• Fact Sheet on Renewable Energy and Climate Change from the Waquoit Bay Reserve
• Fact Sheet on Energy Efficiency from the Waquoit Bay Reserve
• Massachusetts Energy Consumers Alliance
• Cape and Islands Self Reliance