The American Energy Initiative: A Focus on EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Regulations

Testimony Before House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and Power

By Daniel J. Weiss | June 19, 2012

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SOURCE: Center for American Progress

CAP Senior Fellow and Director of Climate Strategy Daniel J. Weiss testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and Power. Read the full testimony (CAP Action)

Chairman Whitfield, Ranking Member Rush, and members of the subcommittee, thank you very much for the opportunity to testify today about the regulation of industrial carbon pollution under the Clean Air Act.

Climate change represents one of the gravest threats posed to humans and it is essential that the United States and other nations significantly reduce their industrial carbon and other pollutants responsible for it. The United States and other nations are already experiencing many of the climate change impacts scientists have warned us about, including warming temperatures, severe drought, massive rainfall and floods, and other extreme weather events.

In 2010 the National Academy of Sciences determined that global warming is real, and human induced:

There is a strong, credible body of evidence, based on multiple lines of research, documenting that climate is changing and that these changes are in large part caused by human activities. While much remains to be learned, the core phenomenon, scientific questions, and hypotheses have been examined thoroughly and have stood firm in the face of serious scientific debate and careful evaluation of alternative explanations.

The United States Global Change Research Program, primarily written under President George W. Bush, determined that “global warming is unequivocal and primarily human-induced.” It further states that climate related impacts are visible now and will continue to grow.

Americans believe global warming is real. A just-released public opinion survey by the Brookings Institute found overwhelming agreement that “there is solid evidence of global warming.” It found that 81 percent of Democrats, 42 percent of Republicans, and 72 percent of independents believe there is solid evidence of global warming.

CAP Senior Fellow and Director of Climate Strategy Daniel J. Weiss testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and Power. Read the full testimony (CAP Action)