Despite the Pope’s Pleas, Congress Resists Action on Climate Change

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Greg Dotson write that at this most urgent moment, the United States cannot afford to undermine any efforts to combat climate change.

The global mission to confront climate change has never been more urgent. Last year was the hottest year on record for the planet Earth, and an unprecedented concentration of carbon dioxide is now in our atmosphere, surpassing 400 parts per million for the first time in at least 800,000 years.

The urgency to act on climate has been recognized by a diverse group of global leaders, from Ronald Reagan’s secretary of state, George Schultz, to President Barack Obama to the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff to Pope Francis. But despite this growing global consensus on the need to arrest climate change, the Republican leaders who control Congress remain unwilling to act.

The above excerpt was originally published in TakePart. Click here to view the full article.

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