Senator Bernie Sanders on Climate Change: "The longer we delay...the less prepared we will be"

In a U.S. Senate hearing last week (23 Feb 2010), Senator Bernie Sanders eloquently and pointedly responded to those in the Congress and elsewhere who reject the fundamental scientific basis for action on climate change. "I find it incredible, I really do, that in the year 2010 on this committee, there are people who are saying there is a doubt about global warming," Sanders said. "The longer we delay, the longer we have this senseless debate, the less prepared we will be."

The hearing, on President Obama's proposed Fiscal Year 2011 budget for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was held before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. In his opening statement, Senator Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, said (see Archived Webcast, at 61:10):

"We have the potential to create millions of good-paying jobs in energy efficiency, in wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, when we finally have the courage to say there is something absurd about bringing into this country 350 billion dollars with of foreign oil every single year, which makes us vulnerable from a geopolitical point of view, does not give us energy independence, and as Senator Merkley said, makes the Saudi Royal Family -- one of the richest families in the world -- even richer.

But I want to get onto another issue. Madame chair, this country faces many, many problems, not the least of which, we have national leaders who are rejecting basic science. China is growing engineers and scientists, India is growing by the tens of thousands scientists and engineers, and we have national leaders who are rejecting basic scientific work. I find it incredible, I really do, that in the year 2010 on this committee, there are people who are saying there is a doubt about global warming. There is no doubt about global warming. The scientific community is almost overwhelmingly united in saying that global warming is real. In fact our own National Academies of Science joined with academies in all G8 countries to issue a statement in 2009 [PDF] that `climate change is happening even faster than previously estimated.' "

The U.S. Global Change Research Program led by top scientists at federal agencies has stated that "global warming is unequivocal and primarily human induced."

An MIT report in 2009 showed that we face an increase of up to 11oF in global average temperatures this century -- worse than was predicted only a few years ago..."

Sanders then directed his rhetorical barbs specifically towards Senator James Inhofe (Republican, Oklahoma). Inhofe had said in his opening statement that "we’ve been told that the science still stands," but asserted that "there’s no objective basis for these claims...[T]he only consensus we have is that there’s a lot we don’t know."

Sanders responded, citing the Statement on Climate Change and Its Implications for Oklahoma from the Oklahoma Climatological Survey. The survey's statement begins with an excerpt (that Sanders quotes) from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which the survey says "reflects the essence of a vast amount of observational data and climate research":

“Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level.”

Sanders continues:

"...I frankly think that when we are debating the reality of an issue that can bring devastatingly negative impacts to this planet, we become laughing stocks of the entire world. That's what we become. I think that using for political reasons the fact that there are a few mistakes among thousands of scientists -- and distorting reality -- does this country and the world no good . If you want to protect the oil interests, get up there and say we're protecting the oil interests. If you want to protect coal, protect coal...But let's not argue about what the overwhelming majority of scientists in this country agree on; and let us...go forward to a clean energy future.

... Our children and grandchildren depend on the transformation of this energy system away from fossil fuel and we have the potential to make huge changes, to grow the ...millions of jobs that we desperately need -- if we are prepared to listen to scientists and go forward..."

"I know the distinguished Senator from Vermont wants so badly to believe that the science is settled, that anthropogenic gases cause global warming," Inhofe later answered. "And the science is not settled."

Sanders' subsequent response is provided in the video clip below. He quoted first from an editorial in the Washington Post ("Climate Insurance," 22 Feb 2010):

"`The Earth is warming. A chief cause is the increase in greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere. Humans are at least in part responsible, because the oil, gas and coal that we burn releases these gases. If current trends persist, it's likely that in coming decades the globe's climate will change with potentially devastating effects for billions of people.

Contrary to what you may have read lately, there are few reputable scientists who would disagree with anything in that first paragraph. Yet suddenly we're hearing that climate change is in doubt and that action to combat it is unlikely. What's going on? '"

Sanders then continued with this passage later in the editorial:

"`Politicians nonetheless have seized on both the trivial mistakes and the complexity of the science to cast doubt on the underlying and unrefuted truth of human-caused greenhouse gas accumulation. In many cases, it is hard to know whether they are being obtuse or dishonest, and hard to know which would be worse.'" [Sanders' emphasis]

Sander's concluded in his own words:

"Global warming is real. If we do not get our act together, there will be devastating impacts for our kids and grandchildren, causing among other things trillions of dollars in order to repair that damage -- if it is repairable at all. The longer we delay, the longer we have this senseless debate [about whether climate change is real], the less prepared we will be. From an economic perspective, China is not delaying. They are going ahead in wind, they're going forward in solar. Spain is. Countries all over the world are investing heavily in energy efficiency and in sustainable energies and creating in the process millions of jobs. And I suggest that if we do not act and act boldly, it will be harmful for our people and our kids and it will be harmful for our economy as well."