Pelosi Statement on National Climate Science Report

Pelosi Statement on National Climate Science Report

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami/Drew Hammill, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. - Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on a report issued today from the United States Global Change Research Program, a joint scientific venture of 13 federal agencies and the White House, on the domestic impact of climate change:

â€Å"This national climate science report confirms the conclusions of credible scientists around the world: climate change is occurring now, it is affecting our lives, and we cannot ignore it.

â€Å"The impact of the climate crisis on the United States and around the world is becoming increasingly severe. We face the threat of droughts in the Great Plains and water shortages in the Southwest, and extreme heat and declining air quality in the Northeast. We can and must address this challenge.

â€Å"I recently saw the challenges of climate change firsthand in our own country when I led a congressional delegation to China and we stopped in Alaska. We heard from Native Alaskans about villages eroding into the sea, melting tundra, and changes in the health and number of salmon that many villages have relied on as their primary food source.

â€Å"Climate change is a global security issue, an economic issue, an environmental health issue, and it is a moral issue. Congress is hard at work on a comprehensive solution to global warming that will cut pollution, create new clean energy jobs, save consumers billions of dollars in energy costs, and promote energy independence and security. It will be the impetus for new jobs and a new economic revival for our country.”