Climate Change

Floor Speech

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Mr. BENISHEK. Mr. Speaker, as a lifelong resident of Northern Michigan, I know how important it is to protect and conserve our precious natural resources. Northern Michigan's economy depends on our Great Lakes and outdoor spaces for tourism, agriculture, and sporting activities.

Generations of people in my district have grown up experiencing the outdoors, from the shores of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, to Isle Royale National Park.

However, we need to make sure that there is a balance and that we do not undertake rash and unproven regulatory policies that are almost guaranteed to negatively impact our economy in the hope of some potential, and often unquantifiable, environmental gain.

All too often, the consequence of overly burdensome regulations here in America is the flight of manufacturing and industry to nations such as China and India. Mr. Speaker, these nations simply do not have the same level of protections or respect for the environment that we have here in America.

I fail to see how this benefits our planet's environment. I know that far too often the result is American citizens losing their jobs.

I hope we can join together to find commonsense and bipartisan ways to continue to protect our environment.

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