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. It is a large and growing threat to our environment, our economic prosperity and our way of life.

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.

In his State of the Union address this January, President Bush acknowledged for the first time the reality of global climate change. While this was certainly a welcome development, the majority of scientists say that the President’s proposals do not go far enough. It is now up to the new Democratic Congress to step in and take action.

If we fail to act soon we can expect even more dramatic changes to our planet. Scientists predict that heat waves will become more frequent and more intense, while the number of droughts and wildfires will increase as well. More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050. The time to act is now, before we reach the so-called “tipping point”, where it may be too late to take meaningful action to reverse climate change.

For my part, I am a 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.

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.

I have also 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.

As a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I will be doing all I can to enact these proposals into law, 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