Washington, DC – On the heels of a joint speech on Tuesday with Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) about the effects of climate change in Florida, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is directly responding to Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) recent comments denying the reality of climate change. In an interview on Sunday and again during a speaking event Tuesday, Rubio said he did not believe human activity was causing climate change. He also went on to say that we should not do anything to address climate change because no new laws “will do anything about it, except it will destroy our economy,” and because “half of the new emissions on the planet are coming from developing countries, and half of that is coming from one country, China, that isn’t going to follow whatever laws we pass.”
In a letter sent to Rubio today, Whitehouse highlights the effects of climate change in Florida that he saw and heard about during his recent climate road trip, and invites Rubio to discuss the issue further on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
“The reality of our changing climate is beyond debate in Florida, just as it is in Rhode Island,” Whitehouse wrote today. “Simple measurements and basic human observations tell us that seas are rising and warming, and that coastal communities are paying a price…”
“With all I heard in Florida, I was surprised to hear your recent comments… To deny the cause of climate change and assert that we shouldn’t try to do anything about it is to condemn our children and grandchildren to a much different world than the one you and I have come to love. Furthermore, our economy is already being harmed by climate change… And to say that we should wait for China to take action before we address this problem stands at odds with your own articulately stated position on foreign policy.”
Whitehouse concludes, “I hope you will reconsider your views about climate change, and I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter with you further. I speak about climate change on the Senate floor every week, whenever the Senate is in session, and would love for you to join me to present your own perspective. I hope you’ll consider doing so. Climate change is an issue of critical importance for both Rhode Island and Florida, and I hope we can find a way to work together to address it.”
Whitehouse’s longer speech with Sen. Nelson went into even greater detail about the effects of climate change in Florida and can be seen here.
The full text of Whitehouse’s letter is below.
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May 15, 2014
The Honorable Marco Rubio
284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC, 20510
Dear Senator Rubio,
As you may know, I recently had the opportunity to travel through Florida during a five day road trip to see the effects of climate change along the Southeast coast. My home state of Rhode Island is seeing the effects of climate change in warming and rising seas, shifting fisheries, and changing seasons. I wanted to visit other coastal states to hear firsthand if they were experiencing similar changes.
All throughout Florida, from Jacksonville to Key Largo, I heard from people whose property and livelihoods are threatened by the effects of man-made climate change. I met Floridians who know that climate change from carbon pollution is real, and who have to adapt to the effects while Congress does nothing to stop the carbon pollution causing these rapid changes.
In Jacksonville, Army Corps of Engineers officials gave stark warnings about what sea-level rise portends for Florida at the coast, for inland flooding, and to the fresh water supply. The Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact, a bipartisan coalition of four South Florida counties, reports that waters around Southeast Florida could surge up to two feet in less than fifty years – putting most of the Everglades underwater. The Florida fishermen I met told me about the northward migration of species they are used to catching, like redfish and snook, due to warming ocean temperatures.
Everywhere I went, Florida communities were taking action. Monroe County has a Republican mayor who is putting climate and energy policy at the heart of her 20-year growth plan. Mayor Philip Levine of Miami Beach is hard at work too. “Sea-level rise is our reality in Miami Beach,” he said. “We are past the point of debating the existence of climate change and are now focusing on adapting to current and future threats.” Mayor Levine is pushing a $400 million plan to make the city’s drainage system more resilient in the face of rising tides.
The reality of our changing climate is beyond debate in Florida, just as it is in Rhode Island. Simple measurements and basic human observations tell us that seas are rising and warming, and that coastal communities are paying a price, consistent with immutable laws of nature that are undeniable, like the law of thermal expansion; and consistent with the considered judgment of our military leaders.
With all I heard in Florida, I was surprised to hear your recent comments that, “I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it… And I do not believe that the laws that they propose we pass will do anything about it, except it will destroy our economy.”
You later went on to say, “What I disagree with is the notion if we pass cap and trade, for example, this will stop this from happening, when in fact half of the new emissions on the planet are coming from developing countries and half of that is coming from one country, China, that isn’t going to follow whatever laws we pass.”
Obviously, I have a different perspective on this matter. To deny the cause of climate change and assert that we shouldn’t try to do anything about it is to condemn our children and grandchildren to a much different world than the one you and I have come to love. Furthermore, our economy is already being harmed by climate change. Sea level rise and coastal flooding from extreme weather are already realities in Broward County and other areas – stressing infrastructure like waste water and drinking water systems. This has a real cost for taxpayers in Florida and Rhode Island.
And to say that we should wait for China to take action before we address this problem stands at odds with your own articulately stated position on foreign policy.
“Every American can agree that the light of peace and liberty would benefit our world,” you said in a speech last fall. “But who will spread it if not America? There is no other nation that can. And that is why, despite the challenges we face here at home, America must continue to hold this torch. America must continue to lead the way.”
I too believe that America must continue to hold up a torch to the world. It is our responsibility as a great nation to set an example for others to follow. Failing to act on climate change would dim our torch and give other nations an excuse to delay action on this urgent issue.
I hope you will reconsider your views about climate change, and I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter with you further. I speak about climate change on the Senate floor every week, whenever the Senate is in session, and would love for you to join me to present your own perspective. I hope you’ll consider doing so. Climate change is an issue of critical importance for both Rhode Island and Florida, and I hope we can find a way to work together to address it.
Sincerely,
Sheldon Whitehouse
U.S. Senator
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