Ranking Member Grijalva Requests Hearing on Alarming Climate Change Report
Washington, D.C. – House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter calling on Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) to hold a hearing to examine the findings of last week’s Sixth Assessment Report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report asserts that we must pursue “urgent, effective, and equitable mitigation and adaptation actions” to stop global warming.
READ the full letter here.
Synthesizing research from nearly 800 scientists and experts across the globe, the IPCC report underscores the immediate and accelerating threat of the climate crisis. It cautions that the planet is warming at an unprecedented rate, putting it on track to exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius average warming limit in less than a decade, if we do not correct course.
In his letter, Ranking Member Grijalva highlights the Committee’s duty to act on the findings of this report: “As the committee with jurisdiction over the nation’s natural resources and wildlife and significant jurisdiction over many issues at the center of climate change—including energy policy on federal lands and waters and water supply and drought response—we play a central role in determining if and how the U.S. meets its climate goals.”
Without rapid adoption of mitigation strategies, the IPCC report warns that “climate change increasingly threatens ecosystems, biodiversity, and the livelihoods, health and wellbeing of current and future generations.
Ranking Member Grijalva’s letter outlines several potential avenues for legislative action and stresses that, “The Natural Resources Committee must act swiftly to address this threat. Therefore, I urge [Chairman Westerman] to hold a hearing to discuss the harmful trends identified in the IPCC report and the actions Congress should take to address them.”
Reaching net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, as the report urges, will be an unachievable endeavor if House Republicans pass legislation like H.R. 1, the People Over Polluters Act, which will incentivize additional fossil fuel extraction through industry handouts and giveaways.
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