I want to thank Chairman Inouye for holding this important hearing today. I look forward to working with you in the weeks and months ahead on additional climate hearings in this Committee.

 

For far too long, in the Senate and elsewhere, the issue of global climate change has been neglected or pushed aside as unsolvable, incomprehensible, or simply someone else’s problem. 

 

But the stakes could not be higher, and the reality could hardly be more stark.

 

After over a decade of work in this area, it’s about time we see the issue of global climate change receiving the attention it deserves. And certainly, federal climate science research is at the forefront of assessing fundamental causes of global warming and the future dangers it could pose to our nation and world.

 

It is crucial that the best available science on climate change be disseminated to the public. Under the Bush Administration, however, this science has been increasingly tailored to reflect political goals rather than scientific fact.

 

The examples of interference are stunning - - from deleting key words including, “global warming,” “warming climate,” and “climate change from press releases to changing agency mission statements to de-emphasize climate research and denying media access to prominent climate scientists.

 

The abuse must stop. And we must come to grips with the truth.

 

Here are the basic facts: At both poles and nearly all points in between, the temperature of the Earth’s surface is heating up, and at a frightening and potentially catastrophic rate. In fact, we know global temperatures increased an average of 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit during the twenty-first century.

 

Science tells us that this heating is the result of human activity. And hiding behind the science or trying to cover it up is not going to solve the problem. We need real solutions and real leadership from this Administration. The time to act is now.