Global Warming
Last year was among the 10 warmest on record, according to a report issued Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The report also said there were record greenhouse gas emissions in 2012. The biggest changes in the climate last year were recorded in the Arctic and in Greenland. The Arctic warmed at about twice the rate of lower altitudes and lost record amounts of sea ice. “The findings are striking,” Kathryn Sullivan, NOAA’s acting administrator, told reporters on a conference call. To Sen. Bernie Sanders, the report is only the latest evidence that bold action is needed. “Our planet as a whole is becoming a warmer place. Global warming is the most serious environmental crisis facing the world today. It demands bold action to preserve our planet for our children and grandchildren.”
Sanders and Sen. Barbara Boxer, chairman of the Senate environment committee, have introduced legislation to tax carbon and methane gas emissions to reduce the use of fossil fuels that are causing climate change. Their measure also would encourage U.S. companies to move to cleaner forms of energy and increase efficiency of existing fossil fuels. Rebates to consumers would reduce the impact of the tax on their energy bills. The revenue raised also would be used to help invest in clean energy technologies and solve our budget problems.
“The point has to be made that we now have the technology in terms of energy efficiency, in terms the decreased price for solar panels, in terms of the need for wind. Geothermal is going all over the country, biomass. We now can do it,” Sanders said. “If there was a political will in the White House and in the Congress, we can transform the energy system. We can create millions of jobs. We could lead the world and be an exporter around the world of that type of technology.”
Read a summary of the Sanders, Boxer bill »
