The sooner we begin to act, the sooner we turn the challenge of climate change into an opportunity to use one of our most valuable resources -- American ingenuity -- to help us sustain an economy that is vibrant, growing and sustainable, while we make our air healthier to breath and safer to live in. Early actions to address climate change enjoy the distinct environmental and economic advantages of achieving near-term greenhouse gas emissions reductions while extending the period of time in which our companies and communities can innovate to maximize efficiency and minimize costs of protecting the environment.
Time is a relevant factor in the debate about global warming. Between 1990, when nations of the world agreed we should attempt to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions levels, and 1997, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions increased 11% according to the EPA. The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts that if we continue to pursue a "business as usual path," our contribution to global greenhouse gas pollution will nearly double by 2020 to 145% of 1990 levels. Since greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere for generations, the longer we wait to reduce our emissions, the more drastic and difficult our future efforts will have to be to address the problem.
Greenhouse gas pollution is a major and growing problem. Emissions of greenhouse gases, due in substantial part to the combustion of fossil fuels, are causing greenhouse concentrations in the atmosphere to rise faster and higher than they would naturally. More than 2,500 of the world's best
scientific and technical experts have concluded that this trend is likely to increase the Earth's temperature by 2-6 degrees in the 21st Century with serious impacts on the global environment.
While it is difficult to link specific weather events to global climate change, the extreme weather we have seen in the past year is consistent with what scientists predict under current models of global warming. Last year in our country, severe drought in the South and West had devastating effects on agricultural production. Wildfires in Florida consumed roughly half a million acres burning timber, worth more than $300 million dollars. Flooding in Texas and Mexico claimed lives and devastated communities. Record temperatures in Texas were so high that sections of Interstate Highway 35 melted.
Underscoring the importance of confronting the problem of climate change, the American Geophysical Union, a professional society comprised of 35,000 geoscientists, recently stated that "present understanding of the Earth climate system provides a compelling basis for legitimate public concern-over ... increased concentrations of greenhouse gases."
Since we introduced this voluntary early action bill, climate change discussions have heated up and many stakeholders have expressed their desire to constructively participate in this important debate. Big businesses such as BP/Amoco, Shell, Lockheed Martin, and United Technologies are finding ways to contribute solutions by improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions. Communities are also showing leadership. For example, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives has helped more than 48 American cities and counties that are committed to climate change protection, to undertake local action plans to achieve voluntary emissions reduction goals. Part of our responsibility as legislators is to make sure that we recognize and encourage these acts of good environmental citizenship. We must not inadvertently discourage or penalize early actions that are good for companies, communities, and the environment.
I hope that our panels today will focus not on the science of climate change nor on the specifics of our legislation but on the concept of crediting voluntary early actions to control U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. This hearing provides an opportunity to learn from one another as we discuss the arguments for and against providing credits to those who take voluntary early actions to address climate change. This discussion should pave the way for improving our bill so that it delivers on the promise embodied in the idea of credit for voluntary early action to break the current legislative stalemate on this increasingly critical global environmental problem. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses. Thank you.