Transcripts For CSPAN Youth Leaders Testify On Climate Change 20240714

, leading to the next generation on the Global Climate crisis. I know a few of our witnesses have a hard stop at 11 30 to get to their next event advocating on these issues. I ask all members keep their questioning to five minutes or less. So we can fit in as many members as possible. Without objection, all the members may have five days to submit statements, questions, extraneous materials for the record subject to length, limitation and the rules. I would like to call on the chairman of the full committee who has a few words to offer, chairman engel. Committee who has a few words to offer, chairman engel. Good morning everyone. I just want to invite everyone to come to the Foreign Affairs committee, i want to welcome everybody. On Climate Change. It is certainly something that is so important. In the aggravating thing about it is, there are so many who still deny it. I look forward to listening to what our young people are saying today. Because the world is their future. And we owe it to them to do what we can now cut to make sure the world is saved and Climate Change is certainly something that is happening. If we dont do anything about it, it will certainly imperil future generations, i am happy to welcome everyone to the Foreign Affairs committee room. And would like to thank the chairman. I would like to recognize myself five minutes for an opening statement. Our panel represents the next generation of leaders and so naturally, we are speaking to the future. However let us be clear. We are also speaking to the present. We are witnessing the effects of Climate Change daily whether it is storms, forest fires, floods, and other disasters occurring with increasing intensity and frequency. Increased migration, Sea Level Rise, stretching food and water safety, this is the reality we are facing right now. Because of Climate Change. Regardless of where we live, we all see it when we go home. I see it every time i go home, i was in southeastern massachusetts that have one of the longest coastlines in the country and includes island communities. Cape cod we anticipate a Sea Level Rise of 1 to 2 meters by 2100. And 3 to 12 meters in the next few hundred years. Erosion, storm damage, it cost families and businesses trying to live with more than they can afford, as every storm approaches. And with each storm we are worried about the cost of lives as well. The stork fishing and lobster industries are threatened by increasing Ocean Temperatures are state and local governments, under immense pressure to address not only Sea Level Rise but quality issues. In spite of having some of the best scientists and researchers in that area, at the university of massachusetts, its an incredible challenge. Efforts many generations now, to diversify our energy supply, wind, solar power, bringing in new jobs. If there are major gaps in access for our communities, and a struggle to overcome the political and bureaucratic obstacles that go with making necessary changes to how things are currently. There must be leadership in addressing Climate Change because we and especially your generation cannot afford the things not to change. This is a global issue. And the biggest polluters are going to be needed to make big changes to do their parts. But we need to be honest with ourselves. As leaders. So far our generation has failed to adequately address a Climate Crisis. This failure is not fatal, and our failure to change will be. Change happens through leadership, we would not be in the situation right now, it would be safely and happily in school pursuing their dreams, or witnesses would, not protesting, if everyone was doing their parts. America knows how to lead in a crisis and it is high time we took ourselves up and got back to this fight to bring the rest of the world with this because waiting for other countries to do the right thing, is making a bad bet on her future. There so much we could and should do right now. In our country. We have right minds to engage solutions for the future. America has shape revolutions time and time again, and it has made our country better off every time. Now the stakes are so much higher. And in spite of all our resources and ingenuity, the one thing we do not have, is time. The report warns us Carbon Emissions, average Sea Level Rise of 62 centimeters over the course of a lifetime of people who are like today, that is over two feet. Scientists are gravely concerned that Sea Level Rise in the next hundred years could be even faster. I would like to thank our witnesses, extraordinary young leaders, fortified with scientific research. For being here. Is regrettable they have to be. This shouldve been reached decades ago when we shouldve been well underway by now to a far more aggressive target in communities and industries, with time to adapt. And given you a much more hopeful outlook on the future. But here we are, and i hope your testimony today will galvanize us to act now, before we are truly out of time. Ranking member for his opening statement. Thank you thank you all for being here, we appreciate it. Given the high level of interest, the late start, and the people of questions i will be brief. Climate change is real, the best way to combat it is by reducing our nations Carbon Emissions and that of the rest of the world. The changes we are seeing, post both short and longterm challenges and i believe they can be addressed in two major ways. We need diversity in our Energy Sources. Energy diversity is energy security. Similar to ones own personal investment strategies, the station cannot afford to put all his eggs in one basket. If you look to invest you dont put all your savings into one stock and let it ride. You diversify your investments in mutual funds, bonds, real estate etc. Second we need to support marketdriven innovations to develop new Clean Energy Technologies opened the United States at the forefront of environmental technologies. The 16th Congressional District is a great example of why, what this marketdriven strategy would look like. And illinois. We are home to four Nuclear Reactors which serve eight reactors, four plants which serve as the most abundant clean and Stable Energy source on the planet. As well as hundreds of wind turbines, solar panels and geothermal sources. Each of those sources provide yearround for libel clean energy and also have produced highpaying jobs for my constituents. Around the world many nations are implement the strategies to combat Climate Change and nuclear must be part of that strategy. And virtually some of our closest allies are taking their Nuclear Reactors offline at a time when we need low Carbon Energy sources. Meanwhile as the west looks at options to combat Climate Change we know chinas global emissions continue to rise. For every ton of Carbon Dioxide reduced by the United States, china and nearly 4 times as much. Today the chinese account for nearly 30 of global emissions. Also my say the u. S. Needs to be the leader of combating Climate Change, i would say that we already are. Since 2005 global emissions have increased by 20 , but the u. S. Admissions have decreased by more than the next 12 emissions producing countries combined. Will reducing global emissions is vital, it is also important to note that there is over 1 billion People Living without access to electricity. That is 1 billion people burning coal and wood for heat. 1 billion People Living with increased risk of foodborne pathogens, living without access to basic sources of information like the radio. For Foreign Policy standpoint the should not be overlooked. The next Global Health crisis or conflict could easily come from these communities living in poverty. We must encourage other developed nations to reduce emissions while understanding that the economy just getting off the ground, it is not entirely possible, not without substantial help from the u. S. And our allies. It is going to take major innovation and breakthroughs to not only reduce our emissions here at home, but also provide clean and reliable power to those currently living without it. All americans want to be good stewards of their environments. People dont put solar panels on the roof because they look like. Consumers, especially young people, like we have today on our panel, want to note that policymakers share their values. I believe we do. And we will continue to see marketdriven solutions that combat Climate Change and provide clean energy to the world. With that i yield back the balance of my time. Thank you gentlemen. The chair recognizes the chair of the select committee on Climate Crisis ms. Castor. Thank you chairman for hosting this hearing. Thank you for including the members of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. We are thrilled to be here. The Youth Climate Movement has grabbed the attention of the world. It is due to the hard work of many of the students in this room. And many young people all across the planet. You all know that congresss first major hearing on the Climate Crisis was in 1988. Congress has had plenty of opportunity to understand that burning fossil fuels warms the planet, and alters the earth climate. Get scientist tell us that more than half of the Carbon Pollution that has been emitted into the atmosphere has occurred since that hearing in 1988. I have been in Congress Since 2007. And we have done some good thing since then. We have raised auto efficiency standards, we have supported the dramatic expansion of wind and solar power, we have started to fund the kind of Climate Resilience to protect the places that we know and love. But it is not enough. Not by a longshot. This year under speaker pelosis leadership we passed our first major piece of climate legislation in 10 years. A bipartisan vote sent hr nine Climate Action now to the senate where it awaits action. That bill takes the common sense approach of keeping the u. S. In the paris climate agreement. Because the u. S. , we should not back down. We should not surrender. Not in the face of the Climate Crisis. We need to take bold action now. 70 of young people in america say they worry about Climate Change. I dont blame them. They are doing more than paying attention in science class. This generation is the most wellinformed and connected generation in history. And everything they are learning has driven them to a new level of engagement. And students are asking policymakers a very powerful question. What is a point of going to school to learn about the Climate Crisis, when your elected officials are not doing enough to act on it . The Climate Strike Movement has united young people in all countries, all across the globe. There cooperating, to demand Climate Action, and they are asking us to cooperate with allies to cut Carbon Pollution and protect our communities. It is not lost on us that the u. S. Is responsible for the biggest share of Carbon Pollution, accumulated in the atmosphere today. We have a very serious responsibility to lead. But we are also the worlds greatest engine of innovation. And we can do this, we have the solution. Local communities and states have acted boldly, but a Strong National Climate Action plan has been missing. We have heard from scientists in the select committee hearings, as we will hear from these young people here today. That we must do more. And that we do not have time to waste. Our answer has to be more than a promise to do better. Our Solutions Must equal the challenge before us. And i bet that 10 or 20 years from now, young people marching and striking today will be serving in the congress. And we need to take bold action now because we cant leave it up to them to clean up the mess that congress has made. People say this next generation gives us hope. That is not quite right is it . This generation is giving us a job to do. The job is addressing the Climate Crisis. If we do our job, then we will be worthy of their hope. Because that means we will have started to create the future they are fighting for. The select committee has a mandate to come up with an action plan for congress. And we need your ideas. We want the ideas to come from all corners of this country and beyond. You can go to Climate Crisis. House. Gov info request and tell us what your ideas are to solve the Climate Crisis. Not all good ideas emanate from washington these days. I think you know that. It is only through cooperation after coming together, in a democracy that we can address the Climate Crisis. These young people are rising to the challenge and we need to rise with them. Thank you and i yield back. Thank you. The chair now recognizes Ranking Member. Is back and want to thank you for being here today. I want to thank you for engaging in the government. Most young folks choose not to do that. So many years later, i have three kids and we often talk about some of the impacts that we have seen from Climate Change and sea rise in louisiana. For some of the sea rise impacts have exacerbated the loss of 2000 square miles of our coastline. 2000 square miles. Of our coast. To put that in perspective, if that was the state of rhode island, we would have 49 states in the United States today. Meaning the size of entire state would be gone. I agree that we need to take aggressive action. I agree that we need to ensure that we move forward in a sustainable, rational manner. But i think it is also important that we ensure that we are moving forward based on facts. Contrary to popular belief, the United States is the country that has led the world in Greenhouse Gas reductions. As stated. We have reduced Greenhouse Gases more than the next 12 countries combined. We produce them more than the next 12 countries combined. Just last year, we stepped in and made more progress on adaptation and mitigation strategies that i believe any other year in this nations history. More dollars, moving toward, establishing a resiliency standard. Ensuring, as we rebuild after disasters, that we are building to a newer, higher standard, truly thinking about the future. Ensuring that we are putting record dollars toward proactive efforts to ensure that our coastal communities and our river base communities can be resilient. And continuing to move in this direction of Greenhouse Gas reductions. But i also think that we have to stop this ridiculousness of operating topically, or operating as though the u. S. Is in a vacuum. It is important to keep in mind that the Energy Information administration projects that by 2030, 80 of Global Energy demands, 80 , are going to be addressed using fossil fuels. This is the Energy Information administration, not some type of partisan hack a group. 80 . It just last week, we had to three bills designed to stop Energy Production in the west over the weekend we have attacks on saudi arabia, all that does is increase our reliance on Energy Sources from other countries that have a lower safety standard and have a lower environmental standard. Records show it is Crystal Clear that when we import energy from other places, we actually increase the risk to the environment. Increase the risk of spills. That when we have domestic Energy Production. I hear people talking about how we need to stop all fossil fuel utilization and stop all these admissions right now, as was stated for every one ton of Carbon Emissions, china has increased by four times. More than offsetting all the reductions that we have had in the u. S. Moving forward, even under the paris accord, folks are sitting here giving accolades to and saying its a great idea, i want to be clear. I support the u. S. Is target in the paris accords. I think that signing onto an agreement and agree to something that allows for china to come in and have a 50 increase, adding another five gigatons of Greenhouse Gas emissions annually, by 2030, is an appropriate. It is moving in the wrong direction. Not in the right direction. I also remain confounded, reading letters like this one, the say we need to pressure the organization of Petroleum Exporting countries and cooperating countries to increase world oil supplies in order to lower prices at the pump. The impact of rising fuel prices is significant and widespread, the letter goes on to say, the current runup in World Oil Prices is effectively attacking on all American Families discretionary budgets. Is that the money goes to opec. As opposed to the u. S. Treasury. Let me say again, this letter is advocating for increased world oil production. Because prices are too high. Who do you think signed this letter . Who do you think signed it . Think about it. Put a name in your head. It was sent by senator cantwell, senator menendez, senator chuck schumer, and senator ed markey just last year. I remain so confused by what it is we are doing. What is our policy . And i ask this be included in the record. My home state, is at risk of existence or nonexistence. We have to move forward in a rational manner that builds the successes and corrects failures. Rather than these confounding policies that make no sense. I yield back. Thank you. I introduce our witnesses. She is a climate activist, who helped build the fridays for future movement. She began going on strike on schools outside the Swedish Parliament on fridays, she is spoken on the Climate Crisis before, welcome. Miss Jamie Margolin is from seattle washington. She is cofounder of the executive director of the zero hour, International Youth Climate Organization founded in the summer of 2017, she is also a plaintive. Plaintiff. Mr. Barrett is from white plains new york. He is a fellow with the alliance for climate education. Welcome. Mr. Bakker is from appleton wisconsin. He is the president of the american conservation coalition. A nonprofit engaging conservatives on Climate Change. All of you are here, we welcome all of you that we appreciate your efforts, please limit your testimony to five minutes. You prepared written statements, they will be made prior to the record. We now go to ms. Thunberg for her statement. I have not come to offer any prepared remarks at this hearing. Im instead attaching my testimony, it is a special report on Global Warming, 1. 5 degrees celsius, which was released on october 8 2018. I am submitting this report as my testimony because i dont want you to listen to me. I want you to listen to the scientists. And they want you to unite behind science. And i want you to take real action. Thank you. Ms. Margolin. I am a 17yearold Climate Justice activist from seattle washington. I am missing a lot of school to be here. It is my senior year of high school, i have called application deadlines looming over me and to be honest i have barely even started because im too busy fighting to make sure that im actually going to have a future i am applying to study for. You are spending a few moments with me but that is nothing compared to the hours that members of congress that with lobbyist from corporations that make billions of dollars off of the destruction of my generations future. I want the entirety of congress in fact the whole u. S. Government, to remember the fear and despair that my generation was with everyday and i want you to hold onto it. How to even begin to convey to you what it feels like to know that within my lifetime the destruction that weve already seen from the Climate Crisis will only get worse. What adds insult to injury is the fact that we keep getting promised what is out there. On College Applications i keep getting asked what you want to be when you grow up . The media, popculture competences and the whole world tells me that i and my whole generation will have something to look forward to but we just dont. Your promising lies. Everyone who will walk up to me after this testimony saying that i such a Bright Future ahead of me, will be lying to my face. It does not matter how talented we are. It doesnt matter how much work we put in. How many dreams we have. The reality is, my generation has been committed to a planet that is collapsing. The fact that you are staring at a panel of young people testifying before you today pleading for a livable earth should not fill you with pride. It should fill you a shame. This climate activism should not have to exist. We are exhausted because we have tried everything. We build organizations, organize marches and worked on political campaigns. I sued my state government, and a lawsuit called piper versus the state of washington. Along with 12 other plaintiffs. For contending to the Climate Crisis, denying my generations Constitutional Rights to life, liberty, and property. The lawsuit is also arguing that the Natural Resources of my state are protected as a right under the Washington State constitution. The shellfish, salmon, orchids and all the beautiful wildlife of my Pacific Northwest home is dying. Due to Ocean Acidification caused by the Climate Crisis. And communities all over seattle are suffering from the new fossil fuel infrastructure being built to lock in decades more of climate destruction into my state. My friends and i were warned to stay inside the last two summers because the city was shrouded in a suffocating smoke from wildfires. It gave me such bad headaches for so long. And my friends with respiratory illnesses had to go to the er. Is is the future we have to look forward to . We are working as hard as we can to make sure that it is not. On july 21, 2018 after an entire year of nonstop organizing, despite being full Time High School students with a lot of homework to do, my organizations, marched on washington dc. In the pouring rain storm. And in 25 cities around the world. Demanding urgent Climate Action from you and all of our leaders. That was only the beginning. By 2030, we will know if we have created the Political Climate that will have allowed us to salvage life on earth, or if we acted too late. By then we must be well on the path to climate recovery. But this must start today. Infected shouldve started yesterday. By 2030, i will be old enough to run for congress and be seated right where you are sitting right now. By then, we could already have achieved net zero Greenhouse Gas emissions, and the rapidly on the path to climate recovery. I cannot wait until im sitting in your seats. To change the Climate Crisis. You have to use the seats that you have now, because by the time i get there it is going to be way too late. The good news is that experts agree there are multiple pathways to the carbon ice the u. S. Energy system and doing so is both technologically and economically viable and beneficial. The most frustrating thing is that the u. S. Government cant even begin to imagine the massive political shift that has to happen in order for us to solve this issue. The politics just has not been invented yet. Solving the Climate Crisis goes against everything that our country was unfortunately built upon. Colonialism, slavery, and Natural Resource extraction. This is why we are calling for a new air altogether. As greta mentioned, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, we only have a few months left in order to create the massive political shift needed to transition our world to an entirely Renewable Energy economy. This is to happen within the next 10 years which is our deadline. To save life as we know it. People, my generation generation c as if we are the last generation. That we are not. We are refusing to be the last letter in the alphabet. I am here before the whole country today, announcing, that we are instead a generation, the generation of the Green New Deal. The only thing that will save us is a whole new era. The Green New Deal is not just about the specific plans laid out in resolutions, it is about a new chapter in american history, and transforming our culture into one that celebrates, encourages and enables radical Climate Action. It is right here testifying before you, that im proud to announce the history is being made. You heard of the reagan era, the new deal era, the user bringing about the era of the Green New Deal. The user bringing about. Thank you mr. Barrett. Suing the executive branch of the federal government for knowingly causing Climate Change. I would like to recognize my fellows in this room sitting behind me. Im a first generation american, my people are in indigenous committees from the island of st. Vincent and the caribbean. The 18th and 19th centuries were a push from her homeland on st. Vincent by British Colonial power. On the eastern coast of settler america in honduras and belize. Despite overwhelming adversity we organized our community and emancipate ourselves to protect our futures as a people. However, struggle continues for us. Sea levels rise, stirs record more intense and frequent and the coral reefs and jeurys disappear. The oceanfront lance my family had inhabited for generations im supposed to hear it will be underwater if the federal government continues to promote a fossil fuel based energy system. It is not just me and my people in honduras being harmed by Climate Change. From my communities around the country and around the world are already feeling the effect of the Climate Crisis and the disposition of land and Public Health threats disproportionately affecting myself another young people. My communities are made up of people who are like me. Young, black, and brown, lgbt q, indigenous, identities which plays a significant higher risk to Climate Change than the general population due to marginalized status in our society. I myself have felt the consequences of Climate Change directly. Growing up in new york i was impacted by the Climate Change fueled hurricane sandy, which interrupted my family and School Without power for days. I still experience great anxiety about expensing another time it change disaster like Superstorm Sandy. And the harm these storms will have on myself and my family. To someone who arty struggles with anxiety, and depression, for my understanding of Climate Change and what i experience, watching our government knowingly perpetuate the Climate Crisis is extremely overwhelming. I wrestle with his anxiety every day from the moment i wake up in the morning to the moment i fall asleep at night. If we keep going on with business as usual, honduras, new york, the places my family is from, will be lost to the sea. That is one of my greatest fears. The Climate Change is going to take these places away from us. My girlfriend is also experiencing the mental and physical Health Challenges of change. Of Climate Change. Allergies from the prolonged wildfire and allergy seasons of the west, limiting her ability to principate in activities or even go outside. Many of them like me are struggling with psychological harm from Climate Change. The medical community now recognizes Climate Change as a great Public Health threat. One of our experts defines it as a Public Health emergency. Which is disproportionally impacting children and youth and a myriad of ways. Specific health threats, exacerbated by Climate Change, include stress, extreme weather, wildfires, reduced air quality, and infectious disease. All of which disproportionally affect children and youth. Another one of her experts psychiatrist known nationally for her work on Climate Change, explained that continued to write actions that exacerbate the Climate Crisis, they will suffer catastrophic emotional injury. She goes on to state that the federal government is sanctioning Climate Change as lawful and federal law and policy, make psychological injury suffered by individuals including the plaintiffs, particularly harmful and insidious. She words it without immediate action by the federal government to adjust Climate Change, Mental Health will worsen and be lifelong. Due to the sanction, dissemination schools and housing in the middle of the last century, policy the harm children, i federal government has also orchestrated and sanctioned a system of fossil fuel energy that is harming children in another way. Threatening our health, personal security, their homes, and our communities. By creating a dangerous climate system. The Civil Rights Movement and other social justice movements, to shine a light onto sense of injustice. In 2015, 21 young people, myself included, filed a lawsuit against the United States and agencies of the executive branch. The brought up constitutional life to including a right to personal security, integrity, and a stable climate system that sustains our lives. I was born into a world in which my future, for my culture and inheritance are slipping into the sea. Are my people are going extinct. Chilled show our children everywhere you care about our future in the future of all generations to come. That was your time to stand in solidarity with me and my companions and communities around the world to fight for a just future free from catastrophic Climate Change. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Backer. Good morning. Im present founder of the mackin conservation coalition. A nonprofit bolstering conservative voices and environmental discussions. Im also 21yearold senior at the university of washington in seattle. Would like to thank the chairman, Ranking Member, for holding this very important hearing. Im also honored to share this panel with the other three. Interview played a Critical Role in generating worldwide awareness around this issue of Climate Change. So thank you. Im a lifelong conservative activist. But like most of my generation, regardless of political affiliation, i believe Climate Change is real. I believe humans are making an impact. And of Global Missions rising 1. 7 last year, we are at a crossroads in history. My generation does not care about the Politics Around Climate Change. We have productive discussions, realistic answers and sound policies. Most importantly, i believe america plays a vital role in solving this problem and that we must lead by example. Between 2005 and 2017 i as ive mentioned, we let the world in emissions reductions, or the next 12 countries combined. However, when our contribution to Greenhouse Gas emissions is declining, we still contribute nearly 15 of mobile Greenhouse Gas emissions which is second most in the world. Americans have been told that onesizefitsall, such as a Green New Deal, are the only solutions. Such policies advocate for an Economic Transformation that increases government control, spending, and regulation. These approaches inhibit innovation and are not an effective way to reduce emissions. In fact, countries have highly restricted and government controlled economies like venezuela have disastrous environmental records. On the other hand, countries leading in emissions reduction have some of the freest economic systems in the world. We cannot ignore this reality. And the fact of the matter is, we cannot regulate our way out of Climate Change. Markets and competition reduce emissions, far more than heavy handed regulation. A truly effective climate plan will capitalize on americas strengths, technological advancements, and power consumers, entrepreneurial businesses, effective government, and bold global leadership. We need to do carbonite fossil fuel emissions, increase the number of nuclear and hydropower plants, continue developing solar and wind, and encourage research and development into other Clean Energy Technologies. It is easier to export innovative American Technologies than burdensome regulations to developing nations. We must understand the privilege americans bring into this conversation. Across the globe, those can most easily adapt to Climate Change are wealthy and live in developed countries. It is unfair to ask someone to make choices based on sustainability when they are struggling to survive. A transition to cleaner Energy Landscape in the u. S. And abroad, we need to consider the most vulnerable in our world. There still over 1 billion people without electricity worldwide. Transitioning to clean energy needs to happen, but it cannot happen overnight. Climate change conversations are often dominated by hopelessness and despair. Reality fighting Climate Change is an opportunity to improve human health, lift people up, and grow the economy. I see promising sides. Any bipartisan climate related bills have been introduced and passed in the last two years. We are reducing omissions, and creating remarkable new technologies. Were republicans are speaking up than ever before. Is innovationbased approach is not limited to the u. S. Just yesterday the British Conservation alliance, a group inspired by my organization, was launched by students in the United Kingdom to advocate for marketbased environment reforms. We are making strides in the direction, in the right direction. But we must do more. Each of us play a Critical Role in tackling Climate Change. To my fellow conservatives, the climate is changing. It is time to claim a seat at the table, and develop smart, limited Government Policies to establish American Leadership on this issue. There is a reasonable conservative approach to Climate Change, and we need to embrace it. To those on the left, without your leadership, this would not be receiving the attention it deserves. But now, it is time for solutions. Politicizing Climate Change has deepened the partisan divide and delayed real action. If you truly want to address Climate Change, work with conservatives who want to champion reforms. To congress. On Climate Change is not about republicans and democrats, it is about those who are taking effective action and those who are not. Our conversations on Climate Change should be about cutting global Greenhouse Gas emissions, not about political pandering. To President Trump, Climate Science is real. It is not a hoax. It is accepted that humans are having a negative impact on our climate. Is a proud american, is a lifelong conservative, and as a young person, i urge you to accept Climate Change is a reality as is, and respond accordingly. We need your leadership. And lastly, to young people. You have remarkable power. The four of us testifying are all under the age of 22. While the word is listing with open ears and hearts to our voices and voices just like yours, stand for what you believe in. Uplift the world. And dont back down. Climate change is about our future. And people need to hear you and us. In conclusion, i grew up on the shores of lake managua and wisconsin were connected with the outdoors early in life. Majors were i find the most peace and calm within myself. That is what i found the american conversation collusion to fight for wild places and stop Climate Change from destroying them. The also the environment affects all of us. Regardless of where we live. Our background. Or our political affiliation. It is time for americans to join together, find solutions, Climate Change, and protect our planet for generations to come. Thank you. I think all the witnesses for their testimony and the urgency. It came through. And all of your testimony. I now recognize myself for less than five minutes. So that we can get as many people to ask questions as possible. I will start with ms. Thunberg. Used chose to submit the report in lieu of your written testimony. Can you expand on why it is important to listen to the science . Well, i dont see a reason to not listen to the science. We should not be taking it for granted, we listen to the current best available science. Is just something everyone should do. It is not political opinion. Political views. Are my opinions. This is the science. Yet. Thank you. And all of your testimony, not just urgency came through, but i was listening, to what you had to say, but as someone from another generation, listening, the last thing we would want the generations to follow for our children, grandchildren, and other peoples children and grandchildren is to hear and some of your remarks actual fear and anxiety being expressed. Could each of you, you can jump right in as you see fit. Comment on what that is like i think that message should be heard by all of us. Not just urgency, but what are we doing to the next generation . How are their wives impacted . By what we are not doing . And what we are doing . If you could i will let you choose among yourselves. Each of you will have a chance to answer that question. For me it is been affecting, i already have underlying issues of anxiety, it is just hard to grow up in a world full of fs. I dont think a lot of people in congress understand the conversations that are happening in every day american high schools. We are constantly asked, prepare for your future, study for your future. But our world is full of is. I will talk to my best friend that you will like yeah, i really want to see you sometime, if it is going to still be there. I really want to study to be this, if that is still going to be a possibility. This constant looming uncertainty. Its this weird form of nihilism. And this fear that has been existing in my generation. Kids are joking, what is the point, what are we studying for . It is this kind of depression and fear not just among me and the panelists. Everyone and that anxiety is something that no child should have to fear. If you think about it, if you go back to what is the purpose of a parent, down to just the biological purpose, it is to give their child the best future and the best life they can possibly have. And the suppose it American Dream is to make sure that children have a Better Future than the adults. Right now, so members of government and corporations are actively pointing a gun to childrens futures. And actively making it worse, actively going out of their way to support corporations and poisonous. And destroy our futures. That is horrifying. And it feels like a betrayal. It is like a knife to the heart. To know that people who have kids go on these campaign ads and hold these babies like you should vote for me, look at me interacting with a small child. On actively poison and choose their wallets of their children. It is very devastating and scary. And it feels like we have been betrayed. In less than a minute when anyone else like to comment on that . Young people in the mist of their development, adolescents, characterized as being dealing with the greatest existential threat of our time. Its not easy anyway. I understand and agree with the panelists, that this is something that a lot of young People Stress about. That is why i got into this movement to begin with. And 2016. Because i thought it was something that americans needed to tackle and the movements, the conservative movement needed to tackle as well. But the more ive gotten into this movement of the Climate Change movement, the more i have seen, this is a positive. Theres a lot of opportunity here. We have time, science says so. It does not mean you dont have to ask but we do have time. We have an opportunity and a chance for people to come together. On this issue. And work across party lines. And generate Economic Growth to solve this issue. So i feel hopeful. I know yield to the Ranking Member mr. Graves. Thank you. I want to thank you all for your testimony. All of you. It really was impressive. I very much appreciate it. Ms. Thunberg you said lets unite behind the science. I could not agree with you more. Lets unite behind the science. I think we need more science. Not less. Mr. Backer you said we need to stop this partisan fighting, and Work Together to yield solutions that make sense. Let me say it again. You have folks that propose this Green New Deal, yet, when it is brought up for a vote nobody votes were. No one. You have efforts like last week, to stop Energy Production, yet you have letters going out saying hey we want you to produce more oil in middle Eastern Countries and other nations that dont share american values. And that have dirtier energy. That have higher emissions than the u. S. This whole thing is a charade. When you ask me look at science, ms. Thunberg a look at facts, the facts are, it was not the legislation here that was designed to require emissions reduction that yielded the u. S. Leading the world in emissions reduction. It was actually folks doing the right thing. Stepping in and actually reducing emissions, through innovation, through energy efficiency, conservation, so we are leading the world. In fact we have beat the projections under the mandatory legislation and we have done it with Cheaper Energy prices. Those of the facts. The fax, mr. Backer, when you look at where we have actually made progress, once again, talking about last year, we Work Together, and the transportation committee, we developed the first resiliency standard, bipartisan unanimous bill passed out of the committee. Where we dedicated record funding to resiliency mitigation and of the u. S. Today, we are spending more money on Climate Science technology and energy, solutions, than anywhere else in the world. Those things have been done in a bipartisan manner. And are actually yielding results. Not the charades. These things are not yielding anything. Ms. Thunberg let me ask, if you were sailing across the ocean and picking up trash along the way, and for everyone piece of trash that you pick up as a boat right next to you dumping out five pieces. How would that make you feel . First of all we were going so fast. For picking up trash. If you were a slow sailor like me. I would that make you feel . First of all, if you use that logic that i am also dumping trash in the ocean. That i would stop dumping my trash in the ocean until the other boat to stop dumping their trash into the ocean as well. And thats the important point. What we need to be doing is we need to be focusing on the countries that are dumping trash in the ocean. That is a metaphor. The fact that china, here we are talking about reducing emissions. You china, under the paris accords, are going to be increasing their emissions by nearly 50 . Their emissions by nearly 50 . Five gigatons annually. So while in the United States we need to continue invest in Clean Energy Technologies, it makes no sense if we are simply watching for increases in china. Mr. Backer, the report talks about numerous Solutions Moving forward, including clean energy and others. Under ipcc, does it contemplate only, only renewable Energy Sources moving forward . Thank you. It actually does not. I think it shows a strong trend that we need to generate more clean energy going into the future. There is no doubt about that. And reduce emissions with Clean Energy Technologies, but there is no statement that says we need to go 100 clean to reduce emissions to the level we need to to fix this problem. It doesnt contemplate not using any conventional fools moving forward for the next few decades anyway. Do you think it makes sense to utilize the fuels from the nation that has the Cleanest Energy or do you think it makes more sense, for example to use a russian gas that releases 13 greater emissions as we move forward. What makes more sense or do you think it makes sense to perhaps get fuels from nigeria, that just two years ago had 3000 ongoing spills. I think it is important to understand that we do generate fossil fuels cleaner than anywhere else in the world. While the world does rely on fossil fuels, that is important to note. While we generate power and uplift people, we start transitioning more and more to clean technology, which i think we are starting to do. But i do think making sure the rest of the world is generating fossil fuels safely is important, because it is going to be part of our future, especially today. The United States does do it cleaner than anywhere else in the world, thats a fact and something we have to think about. Thank you, i yield back. Mr. Backer in your testimony you point out that the United States must lead by example. And despite recent emissions reductions, the United States is currently the second highest omitting country in the world annually. Although we rank number two now, the United States is responsible for the most Carbon Pollution accumulated in the atmosphere. Some people say that the United States should not dramatically reduce our emissions, because china and other countries arent doing enough. I would like to have your view on that and have each of the witnesses comment on that briefly. I think it is a false approach, because we have never in history looked at a problem we contribute in the United States and said, well if it is happening somewhere else, then we shouldnt fix it. So i dont think that is a reasonable excuse. But i also think it is important to note that other countries are omitting and it is important to hold them accountable as we hold ourselves accountable. America has led on lots of initiatives in the past. We have people in hong kong waving their flags and singing the National Anthem right now because we inspire them. We can do the same thing with Climate Change. Yeah, i would say what was said, the United States leads to 25 of historic emissions in the world and if we are the country we say we are, if we are the leaders we say we are, we need to lead by example and work on what we are doing here, so the rest of the world can follow our lead. I have a question. When your children ask you did you do absolutely everything in your power to stop the Climate Crisis, when the storms are getting worse and we see all the fx and they ask you did you do everything, can you really look them in the eye and say no, sorry, i couldnt do everything because that country over there didnt do anything, so if they arent going to do it, then im not. That is shameful and that is cowardly and there is no excuse to not take action, to not improve as much as we can in the United States. How can we call ourselves a city on the hill or be an example for the world if we are going to be cowards and hide behind waiting for other people, saying i am not going to do this because they did not. This is all about being able to look your children in the eye and say i did everything i could for you. I know we are up against pressure. I know time is running out, but honey, however you call your kids, i did everything i could. So i just dont understand, as a parent, how can you look your kid in the eye and say there is this impending crisis, everything is at stake, but i stood back and i didnt really do anything. I didnt take action. I didnt act like it was an emergency, because our neighbors over there werent doing it, so im just not going to. How can you tell your children that . Ms. Thunberg. I just i think, i dont need to add anything because my perspective. I am from sweden, a small country. There it is the same argument. Why should we do everything, because of the u. S. . They say, just so you know. That is being used against you as well. The chair recognizes representative heller. Thank you chairman castro and Ranking Member graves, as well as our Foreign Affairs counterpart and Ranking Member for hosting us today and i want to say a very special thank you to all of you for being here today. And for caring so much about our earth. Throughout our work on this committee, i have long said that any recommendations that the selected committee on Climate Crisis makes must ensure that we provide for innovation and not taxation. Solutions should work to reduce our Carbon Footprint, but not come at the detriment of increased costs for consumers. Mr. Backer, i want to thank you for your leadership and your candor. We all must do whatever we can, do our part, to take care of our beautiful world. In your testimony, you discussed how we cannot regulate our way out of Climate Change. What are some of the ways we can better utilize technology and increase innovation . Thank you. If we really want to focus on reducing emissions, which i think we all agree is the end goal we are talking about here today, it needs to be about the results. The results can come from innovation, like you are alluding to. If you look at the technologies that we can have around carbon capture, taking Carbon Emissions out of the air from fossil fuel limiting plants and being able to put that into the earth or reuse it for another type of product, or you look at the ships in the Transportation Center to transition to cleaner cars and technologies, that is the example of things we can do across the globe and continue innovating. Because innovation, like i mentioned in my testimony, is something we can export to other countries very easily. Because it creates jobs, it is more efficient and it ends up helping the economy. A great example of this is 194 of the World Largest companies of pledged to go 100 renewable by 2030, 2040, or even sooner. Theyre doing that because it is more cheap, efficient and helps consumers. That is because of innovation. If we put regulations on different industries, we are not going to be solving the problem. We need to work on the carbon icing fossil fuels and omissions now and we cant do that with regulation, we can only do that with innovation. We need to innovate our way out of the Climate Change problem. Thank you, i yield my time. Thank you very much. Thank you all for being here. I hold your commitment in fighting for the future generations of the planet and highest is steam. Ms. Thunberg in your speech to the u. N. Secretarygeneral on Climate Change, you said we are facing an existential threat, and i agree. The Scientific Consensus is clear. Climate change is real. Its effects, including changes to rainfall and farmers growing seasons, Sea Level Rise along our coast and exacerbations of conflicts abroad are a threat to us all. In fact our Intelligence Community and two former secretaries of defense have cited Climate Change as a root cause and driver of instability and global threat, making it not just a moral imperative, but a National Security imperative as well. I am curious in your travels as an activist and advocate, have you heard stories or have you engaged with those who are focused on issues of how Climate Change and the instability it causes internationally are impacting Security Issues and how those might impact future generations . I have of course met many people who have experience, environmental and climate related disasters, and who try to help people to come back from that. I havent been meeting so much with people who have told me stories about it being a National Security threat, because i simply havent had enough time to do that. There are so many people to meet and so many stories to hear, so i cant listen to them all, but i imagine maybe one of the others have it doesnt seem like they have, either. So maybe you should talk to someone who is an expert in that area. You mentioned apart from the security aspect of things, that you have spoken with many who have faced disasters at home, due to Global Climate change. Could you perhaps give a couple examples, just for the committee to hear of the stories youve heard . Yes. I have met people whose communities, whose neighborhoods were destroyed by natural disasters. Who were amplified by the Climate Crisis. I have met people whose food and water supply is being threatened by environmental or climate related catastrophes. It is just so sad, so incredible, many people, so many examples, that it is just horrible, because so many who have experienced this and so many who are suffering from this today, i mean, we are already seeing the consequence. Unacceptable consequences of this today and it will only get worse the longer we delay action, unless we start to act now. Thank you very much. I would also like to add, answering that question i would like to acknowledge that we have some amazon protectors in the room right now who are fighting to protect the amazon rain forest and that is a place in the world where people are gravely suffering, not exactly from Climate Change itself, but from the causes of the Climate Crisis. The Animal Agriculture industry and the collusion of the industry with the government of brazil and other countries that would rather make a shortterm profit then protect the lungs of our planet. The amazon rain forest is the lungs of our planet and that is why we are seeing these amazon fires. It is indigenous protectors like the ones here, who have been literally putting their bodies on the line and suffering from those fires. I dont want to speak for them, because i dont know their own stories, but i encourage you to talk to them later. I think it is important as we speak from an American Perspective we also realize the Climate Crisis is global and even though maybe, for me personally, i have latin american roots. My family is from columbia, but even if you dont have roots in latin america, the amazon rain forest is the lungs of our planet, so it burning down, we must unite with latin america and unite with indigenous activists and listen to them and give them a platform. Also not perpetuate the same systems that have been pushing them down. I dont want to speak to this and i dont know if you have anything to add, but it is the same systems of oppression causing the Climate Crisis that are making people feel the worst effects. To add to something i heard earlier, i want to zero quick, i realized my time is running out, but Albert Einstein defined insanity as trying to solve an issue with the same thinking that caused it and right now something disturbing me a lot is seeing the way we are trying to colonize and buy and sell our way out of the problem caused by colonization and buying and selling. Thank you. Mister chairman i am over time, i yield back. Thank you, mister chairman. I dont have prepared notes. I was sitting here just thinking, in 1977, i was confronted with a problem. My father used to grow tomatoes. Mister chairman, i appreciate you and the vice chairman and everybody for allowing us to be here. I meant to do the protocol 1st, i apologize. My father used to grow these tomatoes. He would get half a dozen tomatoes and put about 20 in chemicals and all kinds of nasty stuff and i thought to myself, i am putting that stuff in my body and i thought theres got to be a better solution. It is called the knoxville utility board that used to cut all the trees growing on the power lines and they would grind them up, usually about 6 00 in the morning. I stopped and asked one of those guys one time, what do you do with that stuff . You got to realize, this is 1977, okay . I was between my seventh and eighth grade years. He said we take it to the landfill and i said how much do they pay you for it . They said we dont, we pay them to take it. The wheels started turning in my head and at that point i became a capitalist. I realized there was money to be made, you could save the environment. At that time it saved about 25 of the landfill space in our community. I got into that business. I realize now that of our trash stream, about 85 of that is compostable. It does not have to go into a landfill. When it goes into a landfill, a lot of people think it just goes away. It doesnt go away. It creates all kinds of bad things for the environment. The gases. One of the most feared gases is methane, when something decomposes in an anaerobic, or in the absence of oxygen. If we can compost those things, 85 of that waste stream could be turned back into soil to be utilized i think in a capitalist manner. You wonder about capitalism. Well i had the opportunity of sitting with aoc and i was pitching to her capitalism. I dont know if it caught on with her or not, but my point was this. I said you want to do away with airplanes, well, airplane engines that put out gases that are harmful to the environment. I said mit right now has an airplane engine that has no moving parts and allegedly puts nothing harmful into the environment. No moving parts. To me that is just a buck rogers, but i got on youtube and watched the video. You all could probably understand it, but my 55year old brain doesnt understand it, but it is fascinating to me. Granted, all it did was fly a glider about the length of a football field. I got to thinking, this little cell phone right here, 20 years ago according to my friends at Oak Ridge National laboratory was a 100 million computer. 20 years ago. Capitalism brought this, now everybody basically has a television studio, can get while the information in the world, can contact anyone in the world, for about, i dont know, 100 per month. Its a pretty good deal and that is through capitalism. I would encourage you all to explore that. That realm of our economy. I have a piece of legislation, and i would encourage you all, i would like to hear from each one of you all, what you think about it. It is called carbon capture. It is a capitalist view of capturing carbon and utilizing it. House resolution 3861. I would encourage you all, not now, look it up. Get on your little computers, you know how to use them better than i do. I would encourage you all to read it and see what it is and i applaud you all for being here. I applaud your enthusiasm. I am incredibly proud you are concerned this much about our environment and world and think you for being here. Mister chairman, i yield back the remainder of my 55 seconds. Thank you. Thank you very much mister chairman. To all of the chairs and Ranking Members for bringing us together today. While the panelists, our witnesses here today, i want to thank you as well. Before i begin my questions i want to remind my colleagues that the mobile phones that were once too big or a desktop that weighs thousands of pounds, they got smaller because of federal, taxpayer investment by the United States of america, investing in the research. So i hope there is an openness and willingness that we take the same steps. Lets put our money where our mouth is. Lets make sure we are investing those dollars when answering this call. Ms. Thunberg, i appreciate the power of your testimony. You laid it out in the document before us. A document where experts and scientists have laid out the path in the road for the world to take policy action. It is simple. The work has been done for us. We just have to follow that path. So i want to thank you for that. I dont want to have to defend one of my colleagues. She can defend herself, as we all know. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez has not said that she wants to stop air travel. Her policy said lets do better. Lets act. And i think that is what we are here to do, so i apologize i took a little bit of my time to respond to some of the statement said earlier, but i thought it was important. So ms. Thunberg when i was your age, it was the concentration of co2 in the atmosphere, 350 parts per million. This year we eclipsed 415 parts per million. I will try to make sense out of this. What many scientists have said is we can only get the 430 parts per million to get to an increase of 1. 5 degrees or be able to hold a 1. 5 degree increase. If we get the 450 parts per million, again, we are at 415 already, that gets us to two degrees. Let me sure what that means. With 1. 5 degrees, 14 of the global population will face extreme heat. At two degrees it is 37 . At 1. 5 degrees we will see an ice free arctic once every 100 years. At two degrees we see it every 10 years. At 1. 5 degrees, fisheries the client by 1. 5 million tons and coral reefs declined by at least 70 . At two degrees, fisheries will decline by twice that and we will lose 99 of our coral reefs. We see the difference between what is devastating and what is even beyond what devastating can even be described as. Ms. Thunberg, the science could not be more clear. If we wait, the Climate Crisis will only be more devastating. Just a year ago you were protesting outside the Swedish Parliament. Now you are part of an International Coalition of young people demanding action. I ask of you students that i had the honor of working with in new mexico. One responded, marina weber stevens, one of the founding members of the Global Warming express. Anyone interested can find them at the Global Warming express. Org. She asked a very important question, but when i think you have an answer to and it is this. What is the best way to get the younger generation, teens and students involved in advocacy to address the Climate Crisis and i would add to that, adults . What can we be doing, how can we get more young people involved . How we can get more young people involved, i think to just tell them the truth. Tell them how it is. Because when i found out how it actually was, that made me furious, so i wanted to do something about it and that is i have spoken to many i think, the experience many others have. Because as it is now, people in general dont seem to be very aware of the actual science and how severe this crisis actually is, so i think we need to inform them and start treating this crisis like the existential emergency it is. Then i think people will understand and want to do something about it. That is powerful. Tell them the truth. With that i yield back. Mister carter. Thank you mister chairman and let me begin by thanking all four of you for being here. I cannot tell you how much this builds up my confidence in the younger generation. It is extremely important that you be involved in the process and i applaud you for being here and i thank you for being here. I want to start with you, mr. Backer. It is really good to see someone interested in such an important project. Such an important topic, i should say. Also who understands that we need to factor in the economy in this and the Economic Impact that Something Like this can have. Do you think the state of our economy and the need to maintain a robust economy, because after all, you are all going to be participating in our economy. In a way you already are, but in the moocher you will be even more. It is important we have a robust economy so we will be able to provide jobs for young people and for all of our citizens, but you think it is important to consider that when we are considering Climate Change . Thank you mr. Carter and thank you for being a member of the roosevelt conservation caucus, the caucus started by republicans focused on bringing conservatism back to environmental discussions. It is a major step forward, so thank you. The economy needs to be part of this conversation, because if we dont take the economy into consideration, we leave the people at the most risk, we are keeping them at the most risk. Allowing people in the lower poverty levels to be affected the most by our policies. There is an opportunity, a strong opportunity, to be economically sensible and environmentally sensible. Economic sustainability and Economic Sustainability do go hand in hand and i think a lot of people who are on this issue and believe this is a topic of importance believe that the agricultural industry, corporations and fossil fuels are, a lot of the times, the enemy. But they are part of our society, they are today and they will be at least for the short term. So if we want to lower emissions and have a cleaner economy, we have to work with people, instead of against people. The only way we will truly reduce emissions is to do that and that is true with the economy because we cant have a strong environment without a Strong Economy and worldwide statistics show, as i mentioned earlier, that the most free economies are the cleanest in the world. Does that mean they are done and dont have to do more . On the slightest, but economic success and environmental success go hand in hand. Okay, just a second, i want to show you something on the screen if we can get it up. It is a chart the epa has put out. Are we going to be able to do it . Just folded up, okay . Are you going to be able to get this . Okay, well, unfortunately you cant see it very well, but it is a chart that the epa put out in 2018 and it shows the growth of our economy since 1970. The United States has actually grown our economy. It has grown almost 300 . Our vehicles has grown almost 200 . Population has grown. Energy consumption has grown. But our carbon output has decreased over that period of time. So it is possible to do. We can grow our economy and decrease our carbon output. We have done that since 1970. In fact if you look we have actually decreased the six common pollutants almost 100 . Since 1970, while growing our economy, so it can be done. One thing i want to make sure we understand is look, listen to me, this is not a republican or democratic issue, this is an american issue. This is a world issue. Its not United States versus china versus india. All of us have to work on this together. I believe in Climate Change. I believe the climate has been changing since day one. Im old enough to remember, you are not, but im old enough to remember the early 70s when we felt we were near another ice age. Well, has man had an impact on that . Yes, we do have an impact. How much . That might be debatable, however, we should do something. Mr. Backer you mentioned this about the opportunity that exists here, because ive always said weve got to have three things. Weve got to have innovation, weve got to have mitigation and weve got to have adaptation. That innovation, the greatest innovators, the greatest scientists in the world are right here in the United States of america. That is why i am excited about is leading the way and i think we can lead the way. Yes we have much to be done, there is no question about that. You also mention agriculture. I represent a very rural area in south georgia. The Rural Community will play a big part in this. We cannot leave them behind. That will be very important. We have to be very careful. My message is simple, that yes, this is something we have to deal with but we cant destroy our economy when we are dealing with it. We have to keep that in mind. We need affordable, reliable, clean energy. Thank you mister chairman and i yield back. Thank you. As we said before, we have a hard stop, so here is what i want to do in closing. There will be no closing statements to allow whatever time is limited. I do want to recognize the representative here with great patience throughout the whole hearing. Representative leven, representative titus, representative omar. In the case that we may not have the opportunity, because you do have to leave. So i will now representative meeks. Thank you mister chairman, thank you for this very timely and important hearing. Climate change is undoubtably an economic threat. Thats true. A National Security threat, thats true. And ultimately and most importantly, an existential threat. It has battered our coasts, and set our forests ablaze. In my home state, mr. Barretts home state of new york, Superstorm Sandy destroyed property and uprooted the lives of thousands of new yorkers, including many living in my district. If left unabated, Climate Change will displace world populations. Islands. Mr. Barrett, you are correct, will be gone. Where people currently live. It will continue to wreak havoc on our own, costing billions in damage. Thats economics. If we are not prepared it will be billions of dollars. That will cause economic damage, if we dont do something about Climate Change. It will also, Climate Change, threatens to undo the last 50 years of progress and development in Global Health and poverty reduction. So weve got to do something, urgently. If the world that we leave behind, to hold the world in trust for the next generation, i look at it, the world i leave behind, for my new baby granddaughter, will look dramatically different if we do nothing today. Indeed, a drastic reduction in our Carbon Footprint will be one of, if not the most important, missions of our time. I also want to say, i heard ms. Margolin say this a number of times. I just want to let you know that Anxiety Research indeed shows that young people have high levels of anxiety. It isnt just because of Climate Change. Everything from the economics, to health disparities, to student loans, et cetera. Of course, Climate Change is compounding that problem. So what you are doing, by being here, and leading, does make a difference. And i just used the example of one of my colleagues who, at 16 years old, helped change and shape the nation. His name was john lewis. He put his life on the line. He had a lot of anxiety, if you talk with him. But by doing this with that anxiety, and turning that anxiety and the something youre going to lead, to change, it makes the world a better place for all of us. So i complement you on how you are using your anxiety to make a difference in the world. That is something that is so important. Indeed, yes, all young folks i am old enough to remember the Civil Rights Movement, when it was led by students, High School Students who said i am sick and tired of being sick and tired and they changed things. So believe this, each and every one of you, mr. Backer, ive been listening to you. You are part of a change that is going to make us all better. Make this nation and this world better. One of the things, we fight back and forth, but guess what . I still bet on america. We will go through some of the bad times, because lord knows ive seen bad times and ive seen us come through it, so i want to say to each and every one of you, dont give up on america, because what america is all about is if we stand up and fight, if we stand up for what we believe in, we will change things. It does make a difference. It is the reason why i can sit here, mr. Barrett, because ive seen my father go through some terrible times as an african american. And then i saw barack obama become the president of the United States. Not just for black folks, but for all folks. Keep up your work, you will make this place we call earth, not only exist, but thrive and be a better place. I yield back. Thank you. Thank you for your extraordinary testimony. It makes a difference. It will make a difference. By the way, it is bipartisan and based on science. Thank you for being here. We also want to thank representative acosta who has been here, as well. So you stayed later than you agreed to. I know how hardpressed you are so if we can ask those in the audience, allow the witnesses to go to the anteroom where we came in from, so you can get here next place more quickly. So please remain seated, allow the witnesses to go to the anteroom so they have an expedited way back to their next meeting, which they agreed to stay longer, to hear our testimony. With that, i had during this meeting. Thank you. Government funding runs out at the end of the month. Congress has yet to approve funds for the new year. The senate will take up a temporary spending plan past the house when senators return tomorrow. Federal government through november 21. We may see another vote on terminating the president Emergency Declaration on the southern border. The house will debate letting state authorized cannabis growers and distributors put their money in banks. They will consider a bill barring the separation of family members and limiting lengths of detention. The Senate Returns monday, live coverage on cspan2. The house returns on thursday, live coverage on the span. Trumpmonday president will talk about religious freedom. At the United Nations in new york city. Vice president pence is also expected to attend. We will have live coverage beginning at 11 30 a. M. On cspan. Trump stopped at the houston coast guard airplane hangar today for a brief on heavy rainfall. He was on his way to an event with the Prime Minister of india in texas. For leaving the hangar President Trump stopped to talk to reporters