Chairman Rangel Announces Hearing on Scientific Objectives for Climate Change Legislation

James Hansen

Our planet is in peril. Climate disruption threatens everyone, but especially the young and the unborn, who will bear the full brunt through no fault of their own. Recent science makes it clear that if we continue to burn most of the fossil fuels we will leave our children a deteriorating situation out of their control.

One scientific conclusion is crystal clear: we cannot burn all of the fossil fuels without setting in motion a process of climate disruption that threatens the very existence of many species on our planet. This potential injustice is not limited to the innocent species we exterminate. The greatest injustice is to our own species[2] – our children, grandchildren and the unborn, and people who live with nature, who we may call ‘undeveloped’, indigenous people who want only to live their lives without bearing burdens that we create.

John Christy

From my analysis, the actions being considered to “stop global warming” will have an imperceptible impact on whatever the climate will do, while making energy more expensive, and thus have a negative impact on the economy as a whole. We have found that climate models and popular surface temperature data sets overstate the changes in the real atmosphere and that actual changes are not alarming. And, if the Congress deems it necessary to reduce CO2 emissions, the single most effective way to do so by a small, but at least detectable, amount is through the massive implementation of a nuclear power program. Other currently available alternatives simply cannot produce enough energy to be significantly noticed at a price and geographic scale that is affordable.

Brenda Ekwurzel

In September of 1991, I was conducting research aboard an icebreaker in the Arctic Ocean. As our ship approached the North Pole station, I was astonished to find extensive open water that we easily passed through.
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By a simple analogy, my stomach would have no trouble digesting one slice of pizza. If I continued to eat, however, by the 12th slice of pizza my stomach would complain and have immense difficulty digesting one more slice. But I could easily eat those 12 slices over the course of a week. Likewise, the ocean is complaining and is starting to slow down its digestion of the excess CO2 we have pumped into the atmosphere. Now that the “ocean’s stomach” is almost full, it will take at least a thousand years for the ocean to digest the excess CO2. Hence, a ton of CO2 emitted to the atmosphere today is worse than a ton emitted decades ago and means we cannot afford further delay. This is why a comprehensive climate solution to reduce emissions swiftly and deeply should be a top priority. The question is how swift and how deep.

Submission of written comments

Please Note: Any person(s) and/or organization(s) wishing to submit for the hearing record must follow the appropriate link on the hearing page of the Committee website and complete the informational forms.
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