At Senate Hearing, Alarm is Raised Over Climate Change Impacts and the Cost of Inaction

At a U.S. Senate hearing on comprehensive energy and climate change legislation last week, witnesses expressed concerns about the growing threat posed by climate change and the risk of catastrophic consequences if the U.S. and other nations fail to reduce emissions.  "Let me tell you, the costs of inaction are larger" than the costs of reducing emissions under the proposed Senate bill, said Senator Kerry. "And frankly they become more staggering by the day."

In the hearing convened on 27 October 2009 by the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works on the newly introduced Senate energy and climate bill known as the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, a wide range of issues were addressed—energy efficiency, jobs, energy independence, national security, climate impacts. Several of the Senators and witnesses, including Senator John Kerry (Democrat, Massachusetts), Secretaries Tom Vilsack (Agriculture Department) and Ken Salazar (Interior Department) and Senators Frank Lautenberg (Democrat, New Jersey), Bernie Sanders (Independent, Vermont), Barbara Boxer (Democrat, California) and Tom Udall (Democrat, New Mexico), all raised the issue of climate impacts.

The Agriculture Secretary had a strong message for farmers, ranchers and rural communities. Vilsack, who submitted only written testimony because he was out of the country, stated: 

"Farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners are at the crux of the climate change debate. The U.S. Climate Change Science Program and Subcommittee on Global Climate Change Research reported that forest landowners are already seeing the impacts of climate change on the health and productivity of our forests. Drought, catastrophic weather events, and disease outbreaks are just some of the potential effects of a warming climate. In addition, there continues to be a growing concern that crop yields will suffer due to changing weather patterns. Clearly, the cost of inaction will have a significant effect on our farmers, ranchers, and rural communities."

Interior Secretary Salazar spoke to what his department’s wildlife managers are already seeing in terms of climate change.

"Our land and wildlife managers are already confronting the impacts of climate change. Reduced snowpack – particularly in the Northwest and Mountain-West – is leading to decreased recharge of groundwater systems, increasing stress on public water systems and reducing river flows that impact temperature, depth, and other characteristics of spawning environments for fish. Our Arctic parks and refuges are seeing some of the earliest impacts of possible climate change – melting sea ice threatens marine mammals as well as coastal communities, while thawing permafrost can destabilize buildings, roads, and facilities and disrupt the structural basis of large regions of interior lands."

Senator Kerry testified on a wide range of impacts, from climate impacts on U.S. communities to security challenges.

"NASA scientists – the best experts we have – tell us that the last ten years have been the hottest decade on record. Our oceans have become 30% more acidic. Pine beetles have destroyed 6.5 million acres of forest land in the western states. 180 Alaskan villages are losing permafrost—literally melting the ground beneath their homes and their feet. Southwestern states are projected to experience permanent drought conditions by mid-century, and the area burned by western wildfires is projected to nearly triple. And worst of all, scientists say these changes may well be irreversible for 1,000 years.

…climate change and our dependence on foreign oil are a threat to our national security. There’s nothing conservative about remaining indebted to hostile regimes for our energy. Doubters often talk about the costs of taking action. Let me tell you, the costs of inaction are larger, and frankly they become more staggering by the day."

General Anthony Zinni, former commander of our forces in the Middle East, warned that without action—and I quote—`we will pay the price later in military terms. And that will involve human lives. There will be a human toll.'"