Whitehouse Opening Statement at EPW Committee Field Briefing
“Global Warming’s Impacts on Narragansett Bay”
Narragansett, R.I. - Thank you all for being here today on a very special occasion: an official field briefing before the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works.
As a member of the Committee, it has been my honor and privilege to serve under our Chairman, Senator Barbara Boxer of California. She has been a relentless, passionate, and energetic leader on the subject of global warming, and it is because of her generosity, and the tireless efforts of her staff on the Committee, that we are able to hold this briefing. I am grateful to her for her courtesy. I also sincerely appreciate the generosity of the University of Rhode Island for hosting this briefing on their campus.
Finally, I'd like to extend a special thanks to our excellent panel of witnesses, all distinguished members of Rhode Island's scientific and environmental community: Dr. Kate Moran of the University of Rhode Island; Grover Fugate of the Coastal Resources Management Council; Dr. Jon C. Boothroyd, State Geologist; John Torgan of Save the Bay; and Dr. Caroly Shumway of The Nature Conservancy. Each of them has valuable information to share about the impact of global warming on our Ocean State, and I'm proud that their testimony will become part of the official record of our Committee.
Five years ago today, tens of thousands of menhaden washed up onto the shores of Greenwich Bay, in the worst fish kill our state had seen in decades. Warmer temperatures led to stratification in the water column, which led in turn to eutrophication and lower dissolved oxygen levels. The fish suffocated as they swam. It was a stark reminder of the vulnerability of our precious Narragansett Bay - and a warning of the consequences of global warming even in our own communities and waterways.
Global warming is the most serious threat our environment faces today. And while it will take a global effort to truly solve this crisis, we must begin to take action here at home if we intend to leave to our children and grandchildren an earth as bountiful as the one we inherited from our parents and grandparents. To meet this growing challenge, we must take bold, aggressive action - and we must take that action now - to mitigate the consequences we have already begun to experience and to prevent greater disaster in the future.
I'm proud that Rhode Island is tackling global warming head on. Rhode Island participates in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a coalition of Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states working together to limit pollution from power plants. Our state legislature is working to pass legislation expanding the use of renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, and greening our public transportation fleet. We have adopted aggressive vehicle emissions standards that, once allowed to go into effect, will lower greenhouse gas emissions from new cars in Rhode Island by 30 percent in just the next 8 years. Nationwide, that would be the equivalent of taking 74 million cars off the road for an entire year. Our scientists and universities are on the cutting edge of climate change research - a role I hope they will expand - particularly as to global warming's impact on coastal areas. And innumerable non-profit organizations, several of which are represented here today, are working diligently to protect Rhode Island's unique natural beauty, including our prized bay and coastal areas.
The Ocean State is a leader in state efforts to address the impact of climate change because we must be. As the Ocean State, with our 400 miles of coastline, Rhode Island will experience the brunt of global warming, and we must be ready.
Today we will hear from some of Rhode Island's foremost experts, who are tirelessly working to prepare our state for the impacts of global warming. These scientists and advocates and the organizations they work for, as well as the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, our state legislators, our universities, and our many committed non-profit organizations are setting an example for other coastal states to follow.
But they should not have to confront this challenge alone, so I have authored an amendment to the Climate Security Act that would help provide coastal states the resources to collect the information they need, such as data on projected sea level rise, severe weather, and associated flood risks, particularly improved storm surge modeling and ocean topography data, to prepare for and adapt to global warming.
Let me quickly explain how today's proceedings will work: in just a moment, I will introduce each of our witnesses, and ask them to deliver their testimony before the Committee. Under the rules of the Committee, these statements will be limited to five minutes each, though each witness will be given the opportunity to enter more extensive testimony into the official record if they wish to do so. Once each witness has testified, I will have some questions for them. Unfortunately, the Committee's rules do not permit members of the audience to ask questions during the proceedings.
Thank you all again for joining us today.
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