Republican and Democratic governors urge Congress to act on climate
States are working to solve the climate crisis, but they urgently need federal leaders
In the face of ongoing partisan gridlock on climate action at the national level, a pair of bipartisan governors — Republican Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina — came to Capitol Hill this month to deliver an unequivocal message to federal leaders: Global warming is real, and it’s impacting communities now. The states are working hard to solve the climate crisis, and they urgently need federal leaders to partner with them to reduce greenhouse gases and make their communities more resilient to environmental catastrophe.
These two men govern states on the front lines of climate change. North Carolina has more than 3,000 coastal miles, and Massachusetts has more than 1,500. Both leaders told powerful stories about what their states are experiencing. From the tourist mecca of the Outer Banks to the great colonial city of Boston, these very different locales are feeling the impacts of rising sea levels and increasingly erratic and powerful hurricanes and Nor’easters. Homes and businesses are being destroyed. The warming ocean temperatures are causing fish and lobsters to move northward, impacting iconic industries in both states. Lives and livelihoods are being lost to flooding and wildfires, and the survivors’ lives are changed forever.
Recognizing the urgent need to act on climate, these governors embrace common sense clean energy solutions, and spoke passionately about the strategies they are implementing. Gov. Baker highlighted the bipartisan, multi-state success of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The plan combines cutting global warming pollution from power plants with investing in energy efficiency, saving citizens $8.6 billion on their energy bills since 2009. Similarly, Gov. Cooper touted North Carolina’s clean energy prowess, noting his state is now second in the nation in solar energy production.
In sharp contrast, many federal leaders apparently still live in an imaginary castle of climate denial — on full display in the House of Representatives’ Natural Resources Committee as members questioned the two governors. Both governors stuck to their message, making it crystal clear they are dealing with the brutal impacts of climate change head on. They also made it clear we need our federal leaders to accept the science, recognize the current and real impacts of climate change, and become active partners in addressing this huge challenge for their communities.
Gov. Cooper went so far as to explain, on the record, strategic retreat from the coasts. What does that mean in stark human terms? He is talking about people leaving their homes and their business behind and moving inland. North Carolina is one of our nation’s original thirteen colonies, and many of these southern communities have existed since the 1600s. How absurd is it that these Americans along the coasts are now facing a future where they will completely lose their way of life, while their representatives in Congress blithely deny the reality of climate change? Simply put, they support the interests of the fossil fuel industry over this existential issue for our fellow Americans.
Thankfully, when it comes to climate deniers like Congressmen Rob Bishop of Utah or Tom McClintock of California, research shows that Americans of all political stripes across the country disagree with their misguided position.
So what can citizens do to get those wrongheaded leaders in Congress to take the warnings and pleas of these governors seriously? Step one: Our leaders need to hear from you. A good friend of mine once said that people should call their congressional representatives every day about climate. It may seem futile, but a phone call to your elected leaders every single day, asking them what they are doing to avert the worst impacts of climate change would truly make a difference.
And then recruit your friends, neighbors, fellow Rotary Club members, PTA moms and dads to the cause. If the leaders hear often enough from more and more of their constituents, they will change.
We have no time to spare. Every ton of carbon pollution that goes into our atmosphere alters the climate for us and future generations. We need to reduce and ultimately stop burning fossil fuels as quickly as possible.
Americans deserve the choice to pursue their lives powered by clean energy. They deserve a future where they don’t need to fear that they will lose the ability to stay in their homes and run their business with the coming of the next extreme storm. They deserve leaders who take climate change seriously and act.
We commend Governors Cooper and Baker for taking this message to Congress last week. We urge our federal elected leaders to listen. And we will continue to organize and demand that they listen.
Americans can watch these governors deliver their message in the first 30 minutes of the hearing recording, followed by Q&A with committee members.
Read Gov. Cooper’s statement here, and Gov. Baker’s statement here.
