Safe Climate Caucus

Floor Speech

Mr. LOWENTHAL. Mr. Speaker, inaction on climate change will be more costly in the long run than an investment in curbing emissions now. The nonpartisan Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently urged policymakers--that is us in Congress--to take immediate action on climate change to avoid not only costly damages to our planet but, really, the costly impact to our economy.

The report indicates that if strong action to curb greenhouse gas emissions does not take place in the next 15 years, our last resort to avoid catastrophic global changes will be to rely on expensive technologies to remove harmful greenhouse gases, and that would be unbelievably expensive.

The report also estimates that the longer we wait, the cost goes up, and the impact on the economy is more devastating. If we wait until 2030, we reduce our ability to produce goods and services by up to 4 percent. If we wait until 2050, it is up to 6 percent; and if we wait until 2100, it is up to a 12 percent loss of goods and services. The time to act is now.

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