for example, in 2012, one foot sea level rise that needs it had already experienced meant that the floodwaters for sandy surged further inland and did more damage than they otherwise would have. ..

the causes of ocean, this causes ocean waters to expand and in addition, mountain glaciers are rapidly retreating which adds water to the oceans. the sleeping giant however in the sea level rise occasion has been ice in the main major ice sheets of greenland and ant antarctica. both ice she is are losing mass. how quickly they melt over the coming decades will determine whether we have an additional one foot of sea level rise or up to four feet and perhaps even more. another major change in our climate brought by about human-induced warm something the increase in heavy downpours. this is clearly an area in which recent observations have been born out, have borne out our

previous projections. a warm atmosphere would hold more moisture. we measured that and indeed it is happening. we predicted increased in atmosphere of water vapor and more rain comes down in heavy events and now we've seen that happen. some regions like the northeast and midwest have seen very large increases in the rainfalling in heaviest events. in the future even areas projected to see decreases in total amounts of annual rainfall are expected to see significant increases in proportion of that rain coming in very heavy events another thing we've seen is that the areas that have had big increases in precipitation have also had increases in flooding. river flood magnitudes over the last 90 years have decreased in the southeast and increased in

the great plains, parts of the midwest, and from the northern appalachians into new england we're seeing increased flooding. the map on the screen shows increasings trend in floods in green and decreasing trend in floods in brown. the magnitude of the floods is related to the size of the triangles. of course global warming also means that our nation has gotten hotter on average, with some areas seeing bigger changes than others but it is not the average that we notice so much but rather the extremes. in recent decade we had fewer really cold days and more really hot ones. and that has had many important impacts. one of these impacts has been on the amount of energy we use for heating and cooling. first the good news, we needed less energy for heating but now for the bad news. we've need ad lot more energy

for cooling. heating energy comes from natural gas, heating oil, wood, electricity, and other sources. but cooling is all electricity. that means that some of the big new peaks in demand for electricity for air-conditioning in the future are going to present serious challenges for our electric utilities. the new information in the assessment advances our understanding of the challenges that climate change presents for the american people. the assessment provide americans with firm scientific, with a firm scientific foundation upon which to build wise responses for themselves, their communities, and the nation. thank you. [applause] we will begin our first panel.

john is going to introduce dr. gary yo, who is the moderator of the panel from wesleyan university. he has been called away sooner than he thought. i would like to ask gary and the panel to join us up here on the podium. and we will begin with a short statements by each of the panelists and then we will take some questions from our stakeholders. so, gary, i will turn this over to you. >> thank you, jerry. thank you all for coming. our first panel talks to specific findings in the third national climate assessment and i think what you will take away from this is that confirms.

and the specific conclusion of the ncadac and the third national climate assessment, that indeed every american will find things that matter to him or her in this report. with that, i will ask each of the panelists to introduce him or herself and you have three minutes. >> thank you, gary. i'm professor at the university of illinois. i was involved in the assessment in a number of different ways including heading the chapter, coleading the chapter on the climate science, our changing climate. what i'm going to do is talk a little bit about that evidence for the climate that's changing. that the climate is changing and why we see human activities as being the primary cause of that change. first of all, there are many indicators that the climate is

changing. each of the last three decade has been successfully warmer in the earth's surface than any preceding decade since 1850. overall the world season increase about one 1/2 degrees fahrenheit increase since the late 1800s. the u.s. has seen a similar temperature increase over this period. most of this increase has occurred since 190. the most recent decade was the hottest on record both nationally and worldwide. 2012 was the hottest year on record in the continental united states. all u.s. regions have experienced warming in recent decades. but the extent of warming has not been uniform. in general temperatures are rising more quickly in the north. meanwhile average an all precipitation over the u.s. also increased although there are important regional differences. trends in some types of extreme weather have also increased. for long periods of high temperatures increased at many locations. heavy downpours are increasing

nationally over the last three to five decades, especially northeast, midwest and great plains as jerry showed. some regions like the southwest and southeast have seen increasing trend for droughts while others such as the northeast and midwest have seen an increasing trend in floods. natural drivers of climate can not explain recent observed changes. they are not due to the sun. they are not caused by natural cycles. the majority of the warming global scale last 50 years can only be explained by effects of human influences burning of fossil fuels and deforesttation. this conclusion that the is based on multiple lines of evidence. independent evidence. one is the fundamental understanding that the of how certain gases trap heat. how the climate system respond to increases in these gases and how other human and natural factors influence climate.

another reason is that comes from reconstructions of past climates, using evidence such as tree rings, ice cores and corals. these show that global surface temperatures over the past several decade are clearly unusual. what the last decade warmer than anytime in the last 1300 years and perhaps much longer. another line of evidence cops from using models to simulate the climate of the past century. natural factors like the sun and volcanic activity would have tended to slightly cool the earth in the last 50 years and other natural variations are too small to explain the amount of warming. only when human influences are included do models reproduce warming observed over this time period. >> thank you, gary and don. my name is tom carl. i'm noaa's national climate i can data center and chair the

interu.s. agency research program. i will try to paint a picture of for you of expected changes in climate based on the present path of green house, global greenhouse gas emissions. much of this information i will talk about, not all, but much is based on improved climate models, particular lay compared to previous assessments. we've got more models with higher resolution, more physical processes represented. so let me just highlight a few aspects of future climate expected by end of this century. first, for temperature, it is going to be hotter. on average about eight degrees fahrenheit warmer. compare that to the warmth of increasing warming temperatures we've seen on order of a degree and a 1/2 since the turn of the 20th century. temperatures changes up to 15 degrees warmer in alaska. there will be fewer cold

extremes and many more hot mention dreams. -- hot extremes. there will be frost days with frost increasing between 30 to 70 days depending on location. for precipitation, the moist areas will get wetter on order of 10 to 30%. the arid areas will get drier, in the order of 10 to 20%. as a result, soil moisture will be rediced in much of the country particularly in the southwest and central u.s. both due to less precipitation and hotter temperatures increasing evaporation rates. to go along with this a number of consecutive dry days are expected to increase while at the same time the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events is expected to increase across much of continental u.s. up to four times more than what we've see at the present and as much as six times greater in alaska.

the environment for severe thunderstorms is expected to become more favorable in the future. the most intense hurricanes are expected to become stronger and more frequent with rainfall rates increasing in the order of 20% near the center of the storms. for sea level, global sea level rise is expected to increase in the order of one to four feet, with even greater rises where land is subsiding. for sea ice, summer sea ice is expect to disappear by 2050 of this century. the bottom line, the current path we're on will result in a climate that is far different than anything that this nation has experienced. thanks. >> thanks, tom. my name is radially horton i'm happy to speak with you about the finding of northeast regions, one of eight regions

covered by this report. in the northeast we've seen sea level rise of about a foot on average in the past century. we've also seen temperatures increase by almost two degrees fahrenheit over the past century. and these heavy downpours that wee heard about are now producing on order of 70% more rainfall than they were just half a century or so ago. these climate changes are already leading to impacts throughout the northeast and beyond when we think about the impacts of sea level rise, the central part of that, central range of that projections that tom just mentioned, two to three feet, with more than triple the frequency of coastal flooding throughout the northeast and beyond, even if storms do not become any stronger. for someplaces like new york city, what had been a one in 100 year flood event becomes something that you expect during the lifetime of the typical mortgage. even if storms do not become any stronger. within the northeast, we have critical infrastructure right along our dense coastline.

everything from our iconic transportation networks, i-95, and amtrak, commuter rail networks, the electric grid, substeakses right along the coast. wastewater treatment plants along the coast. all increasingly vulnerable as sea levels rise of the this puts populations at risk. it jeopardizes commerce, human safety. as we heard, leads to expensive repairs as well. as we saw during hurricane sandy all of these infrastructure networks are connected. if one part of that system goes down, if we have electrical grid failures, it cascade into other systems. it is harder to pump water out of a subway station, for example, when the electric grid goes down. of the another important risk to highlight is the danger associated with more frequent heat waves as temperatures rise. we know that the very young, the elderly, and some of our disadvantaged populations are

most vulnerable. as temperatures rise, cities have unique vulnerabilities. air quality is often poor when the temperatures are very high and greater risk of power going out as we see increasing demand for air-conditioning. not justice that will be vulnerable in the northeast to heat in the futures. as temperatures rise, some northerly areas in the past haven't needed air-conditioning as much will increasingly be relying on it. quickly, intense precipitation events pose unique hazards for some inland and rural regions. if we look at some mountainous parts of the northeast, a lot of human populations, transportation, agriculture is concentrated in valleys. with more heavy rain events there is risk of more flooding. in general whether you're talking about city or rural areas, more combined sewer overflow events. more failure of sewer systems, public health hazard throughout

the northeast and beyond. it is important to highlight we have opportunities. northeast whether cities or states shown leadership thinking about these climate risks. we've seen ambitious efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and we've seen steps to adapt to these climate changes as well. in general though, implementation is at early stages. but fortunately this report offers a range of strategies to help close those gaps. thank you. >> thank you, radley and everyone, and real pleasure and honor to be with you today and my colleagues near. i'm kim n-olton i was one of the authors on the human health chapter. when we talk about public health, climate change becomes very personal. we always thought of climate change that happens to someone else. now we know it is happening to us right now. and there's a few ways that climate change is fueling some of the most important kinds of extreme weather events that avenue affect people's health.

my colleagues mentioned extreme rainfall events, the big deluges that send lots and lots of rain. in the northeast, where i live, where i'm from, there has been1% increase in the amount of rainfall that comes down in the most extreme rainfall events, in the last 50 years. that is already happening. the hospital where i was born in up state new york in binghamton, was flooded up to the first floor in 2006 by rising river waters after torrential rains. and those kind of rainfall events are projected to increase five-fold in the future with climate change, in our children's lifetime. radially mentioned heat waves, those are big concern and extreme heat also increases drought risks, wildfire risks. those affect people's health. heat is not just an inconvenience, it can be lethal. it can send thousands of people to emergency rooms as it has done in the past. another dimension of this, there are millions of people in our country who are more vulnerable to the effects of heat and other

climate health effects. that include millions of people, age 65 and older and we're all getting older, as nature has it. our youngest americans, people living in economic disadvantage, some communities of color, people who already have breathing, heart, lung problems. so people who are already struggling to stay healthy are going to find that's more of a struggle as climate change continues. an example, today is world asthma today day. there is 26 million people in the united states have asthma. part of our concerns that rising temperatures worsen air pollution. air pollution from ground level smog to fine particles to pollen can trigger asthma attacks. rising temperatures are also making the length of time that plants produce that pollen longer. already since 1995 there has been a 2 to 3 week increase in the length of ragweed pollen production season in a swath of

states in the central u.s. and canada. now that matters to people who have asthma. but we have huge opportunities as my colleagues have said to make improvements that affect us all. and assessment report really focuses on those opportunities. an example, if we reduce the amount of fossil fuels we use to get energy, we stand to one, reduce air pollution, that we generate from that activity right now. that's a win for health today. two, we get a double benefit because we can reduce heat-trapping carbon pollution emissions. that is a win for our kids for the future. and three, if we step away from every, taking every short trip to the school, to work, to business, in cars and substitute biking, walking paths, more transit, public transit, we get a chance for more physical activity. that is triple. we stand to establish all kind of wins for public health. we're really at this crossroads now in terms of using the

assessment and body of science that we've collected, thanks to the work of many scientists to make informed decisions about where we go from here. and trying to create a future that really has a human face on it and that is healthier and more secure. so i'm really honored to be part of that conversation with my colleagues and with all of you. thank you. >> thank you. i'm gene tokley, coauthor of the agriculture chapter. an overa offing theme of the agriculture chapter, that crop and an agriculture produce is in the u.s. are facing increased challengeds from changes in climate. to put this into context, u.s. agriculture is very diverse with most regions having crops and animals highly adapted to local climate conditions. local temperature, rainfall and soils dictate where crops are grown and where. likewise, animal agriculture is practiced where climate allows

grazing opportunities, animal comfort and low disease potential. specialization and intenseification that have increased productivity have also tightened the relationship between agriculture and climate. in the midwest where i'm from we have more rain coming in the first half of the year and less in the second half. we have a 40-year trend of increased extreme rave events that are delaying or preventing and planting of soybeans and corn. there is also a rising concern about the increase in soil erosion, accompanying these extreme rain events. california producers are facing a different but analogous set of challenges, including drought and heat impacts on vegetable production. on the other hand, there has been a decline in the last 50 years in the number of chilling hours necessary for trees and fruit trees and grapes to maintain high production. cherry trees, for instance, that require at least 900 chilling

hours between growing season, no longer meet the minimum chilling requirements in some parts of california due to warmer winters in the last half century. many parts of texas and oklahoma in 2011 experienced more than 100 days over 100 degrees fahrenheit with both states setting new high temperature records and rates of water loss were double for long-term average, depleting water resources and contributing more than $10 billion in direct losses to agriculture. these trend in temperature and precipitation that pose threats to agricultural production observed over the u.s. are likely to continue and become much more severe under the high carbon emission scenarios. much these trend are consistent with the global trends of dry regions getting drier and hotter and wet regions getting wetter and more humid.

all such trend pose threats to u.s. agriculture. farmers are beginning to connect the dots and recognize that local climates underpinning their multigenerational livelihoods and rural agribusiness communities are changing. they are forced to seek increasingly more costly strategies to adapt to these changes in order to maintain profitability. by mid-century, under current climate emission trends it is unlikely that adaptation strategies will be sufficient to avoid the negative impacts to most u.s. crop and livestock production. thank you. >> thank you, gene. much good afternoon. my name is suzanne meoser and my great honor to introduce you to the coastal chapter. the essence of the story that we're trying to tell in the coastal chapter is actually quite simple. it simply says what happens to our coast will happen to our nation. more than half of the american public lives in a coastal

county, producing nearly 60% of the gross domestic product. nine out of the 10 consumer products that you use in your house today, in your home, came through one of our nation's ports. if you put gas in your tank, if you bought seafood today for dinner, well, then you are inextricably linked to what happens at our shores. it's these and many other facts like that that make it clear no matter where you live in this country you will feel the consequence of climate change on our shores. but say you don't live in portsmouth, new hampshire, or northern virginia or charleston, south carolina, where the streets already regularly flood during particularly high tides. say you don't live in cape cod or on hawaii where the saltwater already pushes into coastal groundwater reservoirs that people depend on. say you don't live in the bayous of southern louisiana, every 24

minutes, one football field worth of land is lost forever to the combined impacts of sinking land and rising seas, then it might come as a surprise to you that climate change is no longer hypothetical threat in some distant future of the as we speak it already leads to intermittent disruptions for businesses in everyday lives. it is already an expensive headache for those maintaining coastal roads, airports and sewage treatment plants. sea level rise is eroding away invaluable beaches and dunes, wetlands and with them habitat for countless animal and plan species. as that sea level continues to rise, these issues will grow from an intermittent to chronic problem during coastal storms to life-threatening dangers. in small coastal villages in alaska, some of our most biggest and vibrant cities like l.a., houston or as we saw in sandy, in the big apple. so in our chapter we show how

lifelines as roads and bridges and energy infrastructure and water pipes are growing risk from sea level rice and storm surges. we show nationally important assets are at risk of repeatedly disrupted by storms and flood of the we show how many of our most vulnerable populations are more exposed to coastal risks and have fewer options to adapt. how coastal habitats we love and need are tipping point of irreversible damage. what we will also tell you that coastal managers are beginning to recognize these dangers and are working hard to find solutions. clearly there are no simple, easy, solutions but then again america didn't become a great nation because of what's easy. what they show us is that we can with hard work reduce these risks, get better prepared and work together with foresight for a safer future. thank you.

>> well, thank you all. i've been looking out beyond those lights. not a lot of smiles. one of the questions that i thought i would ponder and ask my colleagues as we maybe collect some questions from you all, and once you're done, i will actually answer it myself, but, in 15 to 30 seconds, what keeps you up at night? >> so, this is don, again. live in the midwest and i live in the coastal areas. so as bad as all those coastal things suzie was talking about frighten me and worry all of us, the things that worry me that keep me up at night is concerns about severe weather. it is not what we already know, it is what we don't know. we're trying to learn exactly what is happened with severe

thunderstorms. are we likely to get more and stronger tornadoes in the future? are we going to have more ice storms? are we going to have more hail? we don't know those things yet. we have some pieces of evidence supporting in certain directions that they could be, that things like lightning could, tornadoes could become more intense but, we're still in early stage of research. and so i worry about, you know, the research i and my colleagues need to do to really learn what need to be learned there. >> thanks, gary. a couple of things come to mind for me. it's those events that are feasible but not so likely. so what we talked about here today are those events where we have considerable confidence as we continue the path we're on, will eventually occur. but there are a number of events

that are feasible but perhaps not to likely. but if they are, if they do occur, they could be quite a surprise. jerry mentioned them earlier, with respect to collapse of major ice sheets, antarctica, greenland. another feedback from melting of permafrost. rapid release of methane and carbon dioxide stored in the ice for many centuries. portend a additional burden on the atmosphere with respect to green house gases that could accelerate changes we've already been talking about. >> so following up along that similar vain i worry about loss of sea ice in the arctic. we've seen by 2012, about a 50% reduction in the area of late summer sea ice. about a 75% reduction in the volume. one of the reasons that is cause for concern is that is faster rate than the models projected run with increasing greenhouse gases.

it raises the possibility while climate models are absolutely our best tools for projecting tools creating this bound of possible outcomes it eludes to things we heard from jerry, things we heard from tom, at the sort of tail risk, worst case scenarios, are possibles potentially out i had what climate models suggest as we're thinking about as well as we project our long term concerns. . .

a tough time being responsive and on their game with event after event after event. that's what climate change is doing, creating multiple events. the second is multiple system failure. we depend on our cities hospitals and roadways and electrical power to provide and conditioning when it's hot as heck outside. when he goes down, everyone is in the middle of a heat wave with very little way to escape or in the case of a storm, it really compromises ways to get to safety. so i think those are real opportunity areas for us to look into and keep people healthy. >> i worry about food security, both globally and in the u.s. because social unrest happens very quickly under food insecurity. i've talked about the production side of it but that's only one part of food security. it involves transportation, processing, storage. and so any breakdown in any of

those from any of the factors we've already talked about could lead to food security which could lead to social unrest very quickly. >> thank you. the question that you asked and what keeps you up at night is the translation that we use in the coastal chapter actually to get at what are we most vulnerable to? that is a mix of really what is coming from climate change but also what is it meeting on the ground? it's our economic capacity to do with it. if you just look at sea level rise you might say miami is right at the front line but miami has some pretty significant capacities to do with it. i'm much more worried about the small communities that are facing similar the bigger risk but don't have the power of -- mayor bloomberg and a new city and not of ally and not the big cities. so that is really the combination that keeps me up at night. >> thank you.

i promised that i would answer it as well, and it really feeds off of what susie just sent. what keeps me up at night is a persistence across the population not to recognize the old normal climate is broken and we don't know what the new normal climate is going to be. and that that lack of recognition and the inability, this community and decision-makers to communicate those risks to individuals unnecessary puts economic assets at risk, unnecessary put human lives at risk, unnecessarily puts ecosystem's at risk. when i wake up in the middle of the night that's what worries me. >> okay. what do you see as bright spots in how we respond to climate change at a federal, state and local level? actually i just got these but i

do think that's the point of the second panel, how can the ncaa help decision-makers? what is the estimated increase in health care cost? do we have any cogent estimates? >> we have taken a look not -- in the national climate assessment per se but in an important state that decided in reference. we want the assessment to be a really important working foundational document. there was a study to look at six events of types of climate change is going to increase in frequency or extend or the derision in the future but these are six events that happened today, have already happened in the last decade between 2000-2009. the health related costs were 14-$40 billion. those health costs don't

typically get included when the estimate very important infrastructure and roadway and building costs from these extreme weather events. i think that's an important dimension to consider. >> i just got a great balancing question. we heard the concerns of the panel. what he gives them the most to that we can meet the challenges of climate challenges? i think this is only fair. >> i agree. i give a lot of public talks about climate change because i feel it's important to put my time and to explain to people why this is such an important issue. i worry about our children and our grandchildren, and the future they're going to face. but i ended my talks are usually talking about our hope for the future. we as americans are, have shown through history that we know how to solve problems. and i think we can solve this. we can deal with it but we have to make that choice and get on

with it. >> so, i think there's a great advantage in this issue, and that is this nation is very whether conscious. we hear about it every day. it's always in the picture, and it's quite clear that we are experiencing changes that quite literally are unprecedented in this nation's history, as more people see these changes they talk about. the president did talk about it today with a number of tv weather casters and broadcasters. i think there's very much hope there in terms of trying to reach out and educate the broader populace on the problem we face and how we can solve it. >> just quickly, i echo that if you think we may be sort of slow to get going with change i think if you look at a struggle presidents will we get started change can happen quickly. we could all received by the

northeast and beyond examples of how cities are dealing with heat events, planting more trees, giving air-conditioners in some cases and cooling centers to most vulnerable populations, having heat wave action plan. facing the climate risk, elevating critical in the structure, elevating houses, having discussion about coastal zone plan. even more mundane things, increasing the size of colbert, drainage pipes. wind undergoing sort of the routine maintenance and repair, and just adding in a factor to account for these larger increases and expected extreme precipitation. >> well, at the risk of being idealistic, the fact that everyone is here is definite interest in this issue and there's so much attention to it because it affects everyone, climate change affects all of us. i think there's a rising sense of participation and we're all in this together. i think that recent events with extreme weather have brought that home. no one likes to think about very

tough problems when there are no solutions. i think the assessment report provides information that truly accessible about opportunities that we have to make decisions that are going to get us to a better place. and hopefully it will inspire leadership at every level to step forward and be part of th that. >> i'm excited about what is in terms of local food systems. and the more interest in local foods and reducing the number of food miles. do we really need strawberries from argentina in the middle of january? or can we go back to some of the excitement, i remove as a child growing up as getting fruit in season because of such a rare thing. can't we go back to some of those end in the process reduce food miles and perhaps even increase our nutritional value? >> the thing that gives me the greatest hope are you all, and the people that i work with on a

regular basis in my day-to-day job. it's the people that are leading the effort in coastal communities, the people who are willing to step outside the colored lines and draw outside those into something new, work together across disciplinary lines, walk across to the other division, to the next apartment, to the next community down the stream. that can is the greatest hope. it's one thing i can tell you we don't do a good job of putting into climate models. the human spirit is not well modeled, and i will tell you it is the most important factor in getting us off where we are now and onto a different path. >> okay. we're getting close to the end of time. one last question that i got and i think it's directed to me so i will try to answer. change the to the economic costs associated with climate change? from the perspective of what the

national climate assessment has taught us. and what i can say is that there will be costs to climate change. we are already experiencing them. they will get larger and they calibrate not always in dollars and cents but in human lives and ecosystem's, whatever the appropriate metric your there will be some costs to the response is that we think about reducing emissions and greenhouse gases, or increasing resilience and preparedness to future climate changes. but what you find over and over again from the specific examples that are located throughout the assessment is that the cost of not doing anything is much higher than the cost of doing something. and that the cost of not doing something only increase dramatically over the next few years, over the next decade, and into the future from there. so with that i thank you for your attention and panel one, and doctor holden is back.

[applause] >> gary, thank you, thanks to all the members of this terrific panel. you have certainly given us a lot of food for thought, if you'll forgive the term. and it's now my privilege to introduce the next speaker, mic boots come as acting chair of the white house council on environmental quality. mike is a postcollege in both literal and figurative sense. he not only has been a key partner in advancing the administration's efforts to boost resilience to climate change impacts in commits all across the country but he is in the office right next door so in either of us needs to talk to the other, you just have to pound on the wall. so mike, the floor is yours. >> thank you, john. good afternoon, everybody, and

welcome again to the widest but it's great to the author. i'm the acting chair of the white house council on environmental quality and i'm glad you had some time with us last have to dig into some of the findings from this report because as you heard there is a lot of valuable information in there. in fact, people been saying again and again it is those conferences and authoritative report on use climate change that's been generated to date. the great news is the national climate assessment is not just a collection of an illicit and everything that science can tell us about climate change in this country. it takes that scientific information and packages it in a very usable, and hands on set of knowledge. knowledge that decision-makers across this country have been telling us for quite some time that everyone before and that they need and want, as they prepare for a future of more frequent and more severe extreme weather and extreme temperatures and other impacts.

so i'm happy that with this next battle that will be coming up shortly you get the chance to hear more about how we expect some of the climate information to be used. and across the administration we've been working very, very hard to get as much scientific information as we can publicly available and into a usable format for folks who need that. the national climate assessment is a great example of that kind of a tool but it's also a great example of the actionable climate science the president obama talked about when he launched the climate action plan last summer. since the president announced his plan we've made great progress on overriding of fronts, and i'm really happy today to have the distinct pleasure of introducing somebody who was really been driving so much of that progress, and that's doctor kathryn sullivan is the undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and administered of noaa pictures responsible for leading our nation's effort to conserve and manage coastal and

marine resources and supporting wide management of natural resources and helping us understand and predict and prepare our communities for changes in our climate, our weather, our oceans and our coast. dr. sullivan has a track record of fearless leadership on a whole variety of fronts but she made history when she was selected as one of the first six women to be a part of nasa's astronaut corps but as many of you know during her 15 years at nasa, cauthen on the can the first american woman to walk in space, but was also part of the space shuttle discovery mission in 1990 that deployed the hubble space to scope and really catalyzed a whole new era of space exploration. we are lucky to have for leading noaa at this important time. and we are lucky to have her here today to talk more about the national climate assessment and what it is such a critical component of a larger work we're doing to tackle this challenge. so with that, kathy sullivan.

[applause] >> thank you, mike. i'm delighted to be here with all of you today to visit between these two really intriguing and very a lustrous panels that we have. i want to paint a little backdrop before my colleagues on the second panel dive deeper with you into what lies ahead. when the last, when the second national climate assessment was released in 2000, think about where we were. the country was still recovering from the worst economic crisis, the great recession. the deepwater horizon oil platform had literally just exploded in the gulf of mexico unleashing a train of consequences to really write havoc on the economy and the environment in the gulf of mexico. -- wreak havoc. across the us of the world people were taken to the streets in countries like tunisia, egypt

and libya. and climate change, if people believed it was happening at all, was viewed as a long-term problem, not something that would affect us, not the next generation. so what are the end of the century, something maybe we need to worry about. needless to say a lot has changed over the intervening four years. the u.s., our economy and our gulf coast are resounding. countries across the middle east continue to strive to move forward towards greater freedom and democracy for their citizens and viewpoints about climate are indeed changing. as has been said, perhaps we need to respond to the increasing frequency and attention paid to the significant events of the last years. that according to a recent gallup poll, more americans believe that increases in the earths temperature over the last century are due to pollution from human activities, that's a 57% response rate, the naturally

occurring change in nevada. only 40% have that here at this point. further, three out of five americans, 60%, said that global warming is a serious problem. 71% now say in recent polls that they see the effect of global warming somewhere in the world come in their life, in their business, in their community. so now with the updated and even more detailed this aggregated focus assessment that we have in hand, this is the time to capitalize on the growing shift in thinking. the data as you have heard tell us this dynamic planet we call home is indeed changing. the past is no longer prologue in our lives and livelihoods and our communities. so the question before us now is how do we, what do we each of us in this room, how do we ensure that this new information leads to more informed and more dynamic dramatic action?

icv assessment we're talking about today was a have it in the hands us a summary or overview, there are parts on your desktop computer, i think of it as precious cargo that's made it as far as the loading dock. but hasn't yet really didn't picked up and taken on to its destination. the challenge before us that we ask as a family family but all of us, all of you with us here in addition, the challenge before us now is to take this information off the pages and actually deliver it, actually bring it, actually explain it, connect it to commute his come businesses, state and local governments. and to do what we can as advisors and experts as citizens to make sure it gets put in action. that's within each and everyone of us in this room right now coming to play. all of us who serve in the federal government right now are very, very lucky to have so many members of -- across the country with us here today to mark the

release of this report to help begin to carry its findings from its import, its implications out to our citizens. and all of you can be on the first line of offense in taking these results out of the room off the page and starting conversations with in your communities, within your businesses that will begin to develop a new thinking, the new planet, the new look to the future that will bring about the changes that we have talked about needing to have. those of your partner some academic institutions and scientific societies, you, too, have access to untold numbers of people who can take action. natural aggregation for audiences, member segments, from undergrad, you can help our sciences but understand the policy implications and arena and you can help our policymakers and grasp the science that underpins our knowledge of climate change. and our understanding of what actions are available to us to better protect our communities, businesses, economy, society,

our health from the changes that are definitely a foot. your research into the workings of this plan and widow the way e impact our society will also become the foundation for action in communities across the country. the environmental and climate ngos that are represented in them today, you have powerful means to wired science into our communities to connect this information and its import for citizens across this land directly to them. and help you find also this report isn't added and very valuable tool in your toolbox as you help our citizens across the land under understand what these changes are, how they're going to affect them in your region, and what it means to them in their community. all of you here from the business community including the members who served on the ncadac come we can learn a lot from you as well as i hope you taking some good notes from this report. tackling climate change and

protecting in the environment over the last several years has become much more prominent factors both in developing term on economic investment and a driving factors in many corporate social responsibility programs. that's another change that bodes well for the future. so what's next? we do all have to come together and turn these words into actions. from noaa side we see a growing search from committees, from business live to civic leaders to decision-makers, a growing thirst for climate information we've been talking about here. what kind of foresight can you give me? what kind of understanding about the changes afoot and foresight about what my conditions will be in five, 20 or 50 years as a make the infrastructure investment decisions for me right now? that has to be made one way or another. people facing decisions -- with a train of consequences in its

own rights but they are increasingly hungry for this kind of understanding about what's happening in the world and foresight about the changes that are coming their way. they realize that this is a fact of today that they need and want to take better account of in their decision-making. and while attribution for specific events to climate change may remain difficult, these people know from the very own experience that the phenomena around are changing as we've heard. storms are become stronger and more intense. rainfall patterns are shifting with dramatic effect on the committed infrastructure, the agricultural sector. the seas are rising, streets are flooding, -- pay attention to the chemistry to resolve the feedstock and their crop. the core of our work at noaa is to load environmental intelligence. this kind of action oriented information that people need to prepare, ma plan for and respond to these kinds of changes. we strive every single day to

make sound translations and put the kind of actionable information into the hands of these decision-makers, the people who really need it. with regard to this national climate assessment, for us that means translating these findings into actionable intraday and that we build into tools like our digital coast, our sea level rise calculator, our long range on the projections, our forecast for el niño, all of our intelligence products. from the national weather service helping shape and whether radiation to the national ocean service providing real-time coastal intelligence tools like storm surge calculator's, sea level rise tools, real-time tide and current information and navigators, we work everyday to take science all the pages of our journals, off the pages of this assessment and connect it directly to people's lives providing as susie moseley, the foresight that basil urgently seek. let me come back to the question which closed the last panel.

and i, too, will say that what gives me hope about the path forward is to things. it is the caliber of the comprehensiveness, transparency, thoroughness of this assessment. what i see as a success in bridging language and understanding into real-world terms. that's number one. and number two as many of our first panel said, the people in this room, the attention and the tenor of the conversation that is started you this morning with the release of this report. and that is feeding into the emerging shift in how our population looks at the changing trends they're seeing around them. that's an alignment that gives me hope. that's a contingent help, continued on our seizing it. its continued on our really taking hold of this assessment as a new tool and working together to take it off the page. i do believe that working together we can as we must bring this assessment to life, really make sure it gets off the page

out a chair and into the policy, the plans and the practices that are adopted across our nation. i know it won't be easy but i think the time is right. so i want to thank all of those who served on the staff of the national climate assessment, my colleagues and peers who worked on the ncadac and the countless authors from noaa, the rest of the federal family and elsewhere that put the nose to the grindstone for a very long period of time to deliver a product of this quality, report of this meaning, with this kind of clarity and timing. this is a really vital moment and he really foun thought of te moment in history of this dialogue and our country. it is our job as federal service to protect the people of this country, their lives and their livelihoods. we need you working with us to help make sure that this national climate assessment serves as a viable step forward

in that regard and protecting our people for the longer time frame that we are talking about here. so thank you very much again, and with that i will give the podium back to dr. holdren to introduce our next panel. [applause] >> thank you very much, kathy. we sometimes talk about the need for fearless leadership in our environmental agencies. i just as a scientist who allowed herself to be strapped on top of 5 million pounds of high explosives which were then ignited the rocket her and our colleagues into space and did it multiple times, you are well-suited to provide fearless leadership at noaa, and we are grateful. and i'm grateful as i said before for your partnership, personally and that noaa, for this very important effort. now i'd like to invite to the stage our second panel. while the first one focus on findings and information put

forth in the national climate assessment, this one is going to focus on the path forward, how to use that information, how to ensure that its maximally beneficial to decision-makers and citizens on the ground, to moderate the discussion were joined by tc richmond. welcome, tc. she is one of the vice chairs of the national climate assessment development advisory committee. the ncadac in fact and she practices environmental law at the law and policy firm van ness feldman. so t. c., it is all yours. i leave it to you to introduce your distinguished panel. >> thank you. like the last panel we will be introducing ourselves. i am from one of those small coastal king marries north of seattle, washington, so from the other coast, and our law firm has had the privilege of seeing -- being the co-chair of national climate assessment, and i advised state and local

leaders decision-makers and primer the public sector on how to address land use and environmental natural resource issues. and from the outset of the national climate assessment drafting process, the outlining process, we always intended it to be a document that could be used for decision-makers. that's been sort of our guidepost. we want it and eligible and useful information for people to make decisions, whether it be for themselves or for a larger organization or in the public sector. so we know that the best and most current information is crucial for all decision, all those choices we make. and our six panel is will each explain how the national climate assessment information will be used in their arenas, in their parts of america. and as you know start is a

spectacular much, d.c. i am rosina bierbaum from university of michigan, a member of the ncadac fact. and a member of the president's council of advisors on science and technology. we just heard about the array of impact that climate change is already causing and that there are more in store but really there's no more business as usual compressed the water managers cry, station aired he is dead, or is kathy sullivan just said, past is no longer prologue. so adaptation, coping or preparedness as the president calls it is really necessary. and fortunately at that station is a permeating the consciousness of both the public and private sectors, but we really at least a decade behind in thinking in detail about adaptation compared to mitigation. ..

every federal agency has prepared an adaptation plan in the last three years. 15 states are at that station plans and another 4 does nothing hard about it. industry is analyzing how to protect their supply chain and water reliability and feedstocks are key. cities are where the rubber hits the road. the cities we have analyzed, 60% are already in the process of doing some agitation planning.

you heard many cities are already confronting flooding, he wave, storm surges and air-conditioning demand increasing so they are planning how to cope with these changes and more fact that are in store. the glass is half full. on agitation. most of these adaptation efforts are planned, yet to be fully implemented and certainly not yet evaluated to see if they are successful. going forward, cities, states, businesses, all will need localized, regular information how climate is changing, delivered to them at regular intervals. as we heard the federal government is stepping up to assist in this process. we will also need a compendium of best practices for lessons learned from the experiments underway. we need to compile these to understand what fails, what succeeds and why and how our mitigation choices may affect our adaptation choices and if

you think about the increasing competing demands for land, water and energy mitigation and adaptation are essentials to both of those. to continue to protect people and infrastructure and ecosystems in a changing climate requires us to think very differently about food, fiber and shelter. adaptation requires a developing infrastructure that can withstand that hundred year flood, and different ways of planning and managing natural resources. new seed varieties that can function and perform well in drought and floods and heat waves, we need to improve emergency response plans and early-warning systems, shared best practices i mentioned, improved weather and climate monitoring and continued assessments done in a rate of lee with stakeholders' at the center. adaptation is nascent war as we have said more than before but

less than is needed, a task that is urgent and to succeed we need all sectors of society to participate in defining effective and feasible options to cope with our changing climate. there's not a moment to moos. thank you. >> it is a thrill to be in this tremendous gust these issues. and the president's task force on climate preparedness and resiliency and bringing the municipal deliberations of that task force. and we have a very interesting model, four counties. palm beach and monroe county representing a population of about 5.5 million people came

together about six years ago and find a historic contract agreeing to work together, share our staff resources, financial resources, and how to speak with one voice to the federal government, to our state about what our needs were because climate change is something that we don't just think it's some future thing. as has been said today it is happening in our everyday lives. the very systems that were designed to drain water out have become the conduits to bring water in. we have fire hydrants rusting away in the streets in monroe county. we have warranties for the police fleets that are no longer being honored because of salt water damage to the undercarriage of the car. we have beautiful sunny days and roads that are under water every time there's a full moon and people with salt water over topping their canals and swimming pools. our population knows what is happening and they want answers and it became readily apparent

the four counties by working to together could leverage our resources and really make some headway. we are fortunate across the four counties after a lot of work that began with competition and fear that someone in another county might take our dollars to evolve to a place where the city of miami beach was going after broward county and so was miami dade and so was the city of fort lauderdale. daring staff we had a conversation and understood the city of miami beach was probably best positioned so rather than each of our counties moving forward with our hands out we stood back and signed letters to support the city of miami beach as they went after the grant. the good news is they did get a grant. it is important to understand the working together will move this machine forward. we have adopted 110 specific recommendations for climate change across the four counties and we are no longer planning, we are in the implementation

phase. we have adopted in applying sea level projection rises across all four counties which helped with assessments. we have adopted different changes in our building code, complete street models and any number of things that i don't have time to tell you about today. we are excited we are doing and as many ph.d.s as we have on our staff we could not get to where we are today if we didn't have the partnerships with federal agencies. unnatural assessment tool gives that gift of technology, science based resources to those communities and 2 hours as well that may not have as many opportunities as we do so we are excited to have this report come out and be part of moving forward and showing how you can do it and do it well. thank you.

>> good afternoon. my name is timothy bulbennett. this is the first time the assessment is actually brought forward a chapter dedicated to climate impacts as it affects indian country and so this has been a rare privilege and honor. this is the most important time in our life. not just for us but for our children and seven generations to come. we owe it to them to make the best decisions with the best information available. the most accurate information available. this report contributes to the very bedrock for informed decisionmaking not just for today but seven generations to

come. indigenous people across this great island are facing real issues and that is no surprise. it is magnified by impacts of the changing climate as was so eloquently discussed in the first panel. yet there are life lessons that are found within the very fabric of our diverse cultures. intimate knowledge of place that are tethered to hundreds of generations that date back thousands of years. we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors. bearing with us their hopes, their dreams for our future. with the passing of our elders, so passing the torch to us. we must act now and into the future with the lessons that have been shared with us. lessons that taught us

resiliency and responsible persistence. we have the knowledge and opportunities for greatness right now, not tomorrow, right now. we have the opportunities to cover today's technology with ancient understanding of pace, to walk in balance with the world around us and all things that share our world as relative and not merely resources. that opportunity, so what will we do? this blue-green canoe, this is the normally home we have. indian country mourns the loss of one of our great champions, one of our great leaders, billy free junior from the nesqualie

tribe. he passed yesterday and if he were here and chances are he is but a fear speaking to you instead of to me he would tell you we're looking at volunteers, not just for today but lifetime volunteers. who among us will step forward and embraced these opportunities? i will conclude my comments with this. the words of sitting bull, venerated elder, spiritual leader that lived over a century ago, he put this challenge forward to all of us. let us put our minds together to see what we can build for our children. our time is now. >> thank you. and thank you for allowing me to speak with you today about this

important document and resources for the national climate assessment. my name is lindene patton and i will talk about why the private sector should care about the nca based on my experience with risk-management insurance and serving the customers and communities in which they operate. when climate change vulnerabilities become actual impacts they can disrupt normal economic and social functions depending on the severity of the impact of businesses, their supply chains, their employees and communities can be merely inconvenienced such as experienced with recent heavy phone calls and of washington d.c. area or disrupted or destroyed such as experienced by recent drought and wildfires in the western u.s. which cause destruction of homes, businesses and crop losses. the nc a provides information about climate change vulnerability is and impact to water, energy, transportation

and agriculture sectors just to name a few enabling the private sector and secretions to develop cost-effective options for coping with the climate change today and in the future. the extremes are often the focus of private sector because it is those extreme events that tends to swap existing risk-management sectors turning theoretical vulnerabilities into painful realities. we live in a highly interconnected world because of fast majority of consumer products and goods pass through our ports, impact ranging from sea level rise to more severe rainfall and floods to drought and heat waves can result in supply chain disruptions. like local extreme weather events, distant ones can disrupt supply chains. the nc 8 provides elimination that can eliminate those vulnerabilities that

risk-management options can be explored and actions taken. risk-management solutions can compensate for some business asset damage, they don't guarantee that customers or employees will be there when the destruction is over. and action responsive to impacts to reduce and manage risks to manage after will vulnerability to climate change, climate change is here, the climate has shifted and with it, but rings and associated extreme weather events expanded. there is information to turn climate change risk into an opportunity assuring economic and social stability in the face of climate change. nca information and analysis can identify competitive bid vantage for those who use its information to develop risk-management strategies and solutions. isolated actions will not be prohibited for the challenge but

the ncaa helps to provide explanation of the interconnectedness of vulnerability and impacts like the connection between energy and water that was previously discussed. to allow development implementation public and private public partnerships aleutians, but now is the time to act and i encourage everyone to look get this document, review it, read it and apply it to manage for our children. >> the afternoon. i am ed maibach, professor at george mason university and member of the federal advisory committee that authored the assessment and i contributed to a chapter as well. you heard from a number of my colleagues several times, two of the most important findings of the assessment that climate change is happening here, now, in every region of the country and it is affecting many americans in important ways. administrator sullivan challenged us to think

creatively how to get it off the loading dock, get this information into the hands of people who need this information to make better decisions about how to run their lives, how to run their communities, their businesses and what gives me hope is i actually feel i had the privilege over the last four years to meet a really special community of americans who will play an important role in getting this information of the loading dock and into the lives of americans across the nation and they are the tv weathercaster is, 1300 men and women are uniquely well positioned to take this information in the third assessment and bring it to life, show americans how climate changes affecting their lives now, why tv weathercasters for a consolation of reasons, they are highly trusted, our surveys show this, they are almost as trusted as climate scientists who are the most trusted but unlike

climate scientists tv weathercasters have access to the lives of most americans. it is kind of quaint but even in 2014 the number one source of weather information in america is local television. their trust and have access, they are remarkable communicator's. their day jobs or their night job depending what shift the work is to take complicated weather information and make it simple, make it digestible and frankly make it fun, make you want to turn on the weather tonight to learn about it so these people are exquisitely good communicators and finally they talk to us about the things we most care about, what is happening in our community or in our backyard which is after all what we want to hear about more than anything. in 2009 with funding from the national science foundation my colleagues at george mason university and climate central which is a nonprofit organization based in princeton,

we have this extraordinary opportunity to team up with the cbs affiliate in columbia, south carolina, jim candy is a senior meteorologist, mary beth jacob is there news director and they worked with us over the course of several months in developing informations that would help the weather team brings the impact of climate change to life for their viewers in columbia, south carolina. my role at george mason is to evaluate whether it made a difference, we surveyed local tv viewers before hand, we surveyed local tv viewers a year later and what we learned from that evaluation is jim candy's viewers learned more about climate change in the course of one years and did viewers in any competing stations. that is pretty big news in my business. we are currently george mason university and climate central

currently teaming with noaa and nasa and the american meteorological society to try to test this on a larger scale, statewide in virginia currently. we are simultaneously trying to scale this up, the materials, educational materials we developed which we call climate matters, trying to make them available to weathercasters in every community in america so that should they wish to embrace a new role the role of climate educators, they have the materials they need to do so and that is where the third national climate assessment comes in. information in the assessment provides the foundation for us to develop broadcast quality materials for tv weathercasters across the country. so i will close by saying we have been here today, the president actually has been conducting interviews with tv weathercasters somewhere in the white house, i don't know where but he chose to use his time well because he is giving

interviews, talking about the results of the assessment to the very people who are going to help us get this information of the loading dock and into the lives of every american, thank you. >> thank you. this is a momentous moment. my name is mark mccaffrey with the national center for science education and apparently the only nervous person here who is a little nervous about speaking at the white house but i am here to tell you that for climate education, nca is a potential game change because it will help us respond to the president's call to educate classmates, colleagues, parents, friends, tell them what is at stake, broaden the circle. if you mentioned that you're a go at a speech at georgetown, and we are excited to be part of this process so we, the national center for science education, joined the nca nest, public-private partnership of a hundred organizations a year ago

to be able to try to maximize the education potential for nca and we start this education affiliate's group which has been clouding over the past several months on how once the report is out we will be able to take full the vantage of this incredible resource. why is nca a potential game changer? two words, mobile one earnings. this is potentially transform event revolutionary because mobile learning as a lot of you know, i see if you heads nodding, transforming how people learn, where they learn, what they learn and we are excited about that because the site was designed with mobile learning in mind. nca is a treasure trove of not only content but context and will help build understanding what is happening, how scientists know what they know and what can be done. there are thousands of actions

that are embedded in nca and potentially many thousands of jobs and career paths can be teased out as students working with their teachers and others dig in to the meat of the report. there are 76 million students in this country, one in four people is a student and millions more who are parents and grandparents and employers or future employers of those one in four people in this country and by and large they have not been learning about climate change. it has not been a priority, it has been skimmed over, sometimes talked as controversy and we need to change that. nca can help us with that. most teens and adults they'll basically ises about climate and energy so no wonder we have a climate of confusion in this country about the topic. even if people generally agreed that it is an issue they don't really know at any kind of level

of depth about the causes and effects let alone the responses and risks of climate change. higher illiteracy, the six americas research shows ultimately means people are more concerned about climate change and what can be done about it. higher literacy means better informed decisionmaking, understanding the causes and effects, having the know how to address risks and minimize and maximize responses. education affiliate group, fledgling public/private partnership is lacking funding at this point. we are definitely not lacking in talent. the alliance for climate education, president's climate commitment, noaa climate stewards, green school the lions are a few of the many projects that are out there that

established foundations ran and nca affiliate group can serve as the supporting backbone for that. so we are poised for a new revolution in learning, transforming schools into living laboratories that our climate smart, climate save, energy wise, energy-efficient, essentially are d incubators. we can use climate and energy, engage in interdisciplinary and integrating seems for education. so join us and let's make it happen. >> thank you. it is funny is that i was talking with eric before we got up here, how nervousness can sometimes be set aside when you really think that something is as important as this is a usually did that, you set aside your nerves. i want to thank you all, great comments to get us started. the questions that i have unless

you have more is we have talked about the loading dock image and that is the loading dock coming from the federal government loaded with national climate assessment, loading dock in the ethernet of the national climate assessment. one of the most inspiring things to me had i done on the first panel i would have answered the question of what gives me most help, the astonishing connections that are already established across the u.s. in organizations of like kind working together that i had no way of knowing about other than the water world that i work in. to turn that to a question, i am thinking of the loading dock more as you to your fellow organizations and perhaps your organization's or back to the federal government because i think we all have a lot to

offered the federal government in terms of information. can you think about what within the sphere of your own influence what works with sharing information and what the federal government can do to help you with better interconnections? >> i work for the federal government for a lifetime ended it is an interesting need to work from the top down and the bottom up and one of the most wonderful things about this assessment is we put the stake holders right at the center so that the information we are giving back to them is not just what we think is usable information but information they asked for and those who worked in the previous assessments remember when we gave the first assessment, the summer average growing season temperature to

the farmers', they said no. what we want to know is the temperature -- there is really a need to know what information is needed at the bottom and to make sure what is being collected by the fed at the top can be translated into that and i think the very exciting developments we heard about, all all the agencies have regional entities with you are talking about noaa or interior or agriculture, there can be this kind of mid level between the federal data and the user needs that can be brought to bear that we can get increased sectorial and spatial coverage of usable data for people at the bottom, information back to those at the top. >> as the only a elected official on the panel today, the things that i find superexcited about what is happening in south florida and what we need more of

is a non-partisan conversation. the issues that are facing us are not about party, they are about the quality of our life, our children, it is about what we have today is that we want our kids to have and grand kids to have in the future and the impact we are experiencing, the conversations that are taking place while perhaps in the beginning was a little cross side, looking at each other that might have come from a different party, ultimately as we wrestled with all of the solutions we have found many, we understood there is a lot more than we have been common. if we focus on that and said the other things aside we can continue to move forward and through the moving forward step-by-step over six years, as four counties represented this past year by three republican mayors and one democratic mayor to understand the challenges facing us are not about party. and was asked earlier what keeps us up at night and what keeps me up is the part of the conversation takes place in

washington and is still taking place in our state and there are lots and lots of communities just like us that are waking up every day and solving problems and what party you are in is not the question somebody asks you when they call city hall for help. they don't care. they want you to fix the problem. i am intensely hopefuls that the more we can demonstrate how these issues are -- solutions are at hand, that those lessons hopefully will give other policymakers the spine to stand up against what some ideologues want them to say and begin to deal with the problems that are before us. >> there's one word that comes to mind and it encapsulates all of the points my colleagues have discussed as well as many of my own. that word is commitment.

when i think about the amendment i think about my own. i am committed to this process. how do i need by example? that is where the paradigm begins to change and that is my primary challenge. understanding that this isn't the end of the story but the beginning. i keep coming back to opportunities. i have a colleague of mine that helps me understand it is not the challenges we must face, but it is the opportunities to do great things. so i challenge myself. >> we will leave the last few minutes of this discussion for live coverage of the u.s. senate from this wednesday morning. senators gambling and to continue work on a bill that would provide incentives for energy efficient manufacturing and promoting energy savings in buildings, party leaders continue to work on an agreement to bring a final vote on the bill. republicans are looking to attach a package of amendments that will increase natural gas

exports, reducing epa regulations and bring up a vote on the keystone pipeline. democrats have offered a separate vote on keystone and republican support the passage of the current energy efficiency build. of those honored fans in the legislation could occur later this afternoon. now live to the senate floor on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. o god, from whom all holy desires come and all good counsels do proceed, let your presence be felt in our midst today. crown the deliberations of our senators with your wisdom, as you provide them with insights that will make a better world.

lord, help them to take charge of this day, meeting its joys with gratitude, its challenges with fortitude, and its doubts with faith. guard them from error; deliver them from evil. make them faithful servants of your providential purposes, giving them consciences void of offense as they seek to glorify you. we pray in your faithful name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the

united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington d.c., may 7, 2014. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable edward j. markey, a senator from the commonwealth of massachusetts to perform the duties of the chair. signed patrick j. leahy. president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following my remarks and those of the republican leader the senate will resume consideration of a motion to proceed to the energy efficiency industrial competitiveness bill.

postcloture time will expire at about 5:45 this evening. senators will be notified when and if any votes are scheduled today. mr. president, it is not often that i agree with what the koch brothers say or do. their radical agenda -- their radical agenda is normally so far out of the mainstream that it makes opposition to their agenda very easy. so imagine my surprise when the last week i read the quote -- i read a quote from a koch spokesperson in a kansas newspaper. that's where they're based. here's what the koch brothers said -- and i quote -- "we're not experts on climate change. we do believe there should be a free and open debate on the climate issue and it should be based on sound science and intellectual honesty. the debate should take place -- they go on to say -- among the scientific community examining all points of view and void of

politics, personal attacks and partisan agendas" close quote. listen to what they said, mr. president. sound science, intellectual honesty? from the koch brothers on this issue? see, their statement, i think it sounds pretty good. i agree with the koch brothers. koch industries that their myriad political organizations are not experts on climate change, and that's an understatement. i also agree that the debate on climate change should be based on sound science. in fact, sound science that has long been debated. the presiding officer has spent 38 years in congress, and has been one of the leading proponents of recognizing over the decades how our climate is changing. everyone sees that it's changing, but not the koch

brothers. and i'll explain a little more. the sound science has long been debated, has reached a clear, unambiguous conclusion that climate change is here and it is real. of course charles and david koch know the debate on climate change has already taken place within the science community. they know that. the debate has been open and has been free. the overwhelming evidence proves that pollution is causing climate change. but, mr. president, no one has to take my word for it, including the multizillionai r*e koch brothers, the two richest people in the world. just yesterday the white house -- not the white house, they announced but they released a report, an assessment that was authored by more than 300 scientists. mr. president, this is just -- i mean papers all over the world are talking about this.

one of the hill newspapers that we all read has a picture on the front that is stunning. and it shows a picture of a man walking near a portion of the scenic highway that collapsed near pensacola, florida. the new report -- they're talking about the one released yesterday -- climate change vapidly, rapidly turning the united states into a stormy and dangerous place and notes rising sea level and natural disasters. new climate report: people's lives are at risk. subheadline, "despite warnings, no signs of changed minds on capitol hill." the former head of the environment committee in the united states senate said it was a hoax. it's a hoax. "washington post," "study:

climate risks are growing." it has graphs here, mr. president, about the land surface, air temperature rising, sea surface temperature rising, sea level rising, arctic sea melting, glacier mass decreasing headline, "washington "washingt" "climate risks are growing." subheadline: "every part of the united states is being affected." and of course the sub-subheadline: "conservatives criticize federal assessment." "new york times" front page shows a picture of the united states "rising temperatures." now, mr. president, plus two

degrees, that is so significant. the temperature rising less than a degree can change weather patterns in the world. and we're talking about two degrees. and, you know, they're changing. in nevada, the state of nevada, mr. president, nevada is a desert. we are the most mountainous state in the union but most of nevada is a desert. we have 314 separate mountain ranges. we have 32 mountains over 11,000 feet high. we have a mountain that's 14,000 feet high. but even in nevada, we're at the top of the rung in one part of nevada. it's red. as it is in many places from the east to the west, to the midwest how can you deny what's going

on, mr. president? look at the storms. mark pryor described to my caucus yesterday, our caucus yesterday, what happened in arkansas. the winds blew in arkansas 190 miles an hour. think about that. i was in reno, nevada, once when the wind was blowing 80 miles an hour. i couldn't believe the wind could blow any harder than that. it so frightened me; i was staying in a hotel. they had picture windows. i went and put my bed in the bathroom so there wouldn't be windows around. winds blowing at 100 phaoeults an hour fast -- miles an hour faster than that? that's what happened in arkansas. as he described, these weren't mobile homes. these were brick structures that were just disintegrated. all that was left when that

storm hit was a foundation most of the time. so, mr. president, the koch brothers wants an open debate. it's here. we've done it. the report that i'm referring to here concluded there are disastrous, disastrous climate changes taking place on our earth due to human activity. while the koch brothers admit to not being experts on the matter, these billionaire oil tie cons are certainly -- tycoons are experts contributing to climate change. that's what they do very well. they are one of the main causes of this. not a cause, the main cause. as announced by university of massachusetts, amherst -- the presiding officer knows this well, he's from the state of massachusetts -- ranked koch industries as one of the nation's biggest air and water polluters, period.

in one year koch industries released 31 million pounds of toxic air. how much is that? it's more than dow chemical, exxon mobile and general electric combined emitted. they are the champions. the koch brothers' actions against the environment aren't limited, though, to toxic emissions. charles and david koch are waging a war against anything that protects the environment. i know that sounds absurd, but it's true. these two billionaire oil barons are actively campaigning now, spending tons of money against anything that seeks to curb pollution, limit our dependence on fossil fuels. they are one of the main owners of that ugly tar stuff in canada. they are, if not the largest, second-largest owner of that stuff up there.

the kochs are pumping millions of dollars into political organizations, fighting legislation that's good for the environment. mr. president, they're not doing it only in washington. they are in to state governments. they are intimidated state legislators. this is ironic, but having come from them, i guess there should be a different way of describing it. given their statement urging the void of politics and partisan agendas on issues pertaining to the environment. for instance, we in the senate now are considering an energy efficiency bill. who's working against that more than anyone else? the koch brothers. this bipartisan legislation will spur the use of energy efficiency technology in private homes and in commercial buildings at no cost to the taxpayers. this bill will make our country more energy independent, protect our environment and save

consumers on their energy bills. but, mr. president, if that is not enough, it would also create 200,000 jobs, american jobs that you can't export. even, even the chamber of commerce, by the way, huge amounts of money come from the koch brothers into the chamber of commerce to run ads against democratic senators. but in this instance the chamber of commerce even supports shaheen-portman. unsurprisingly, the main arm of the kpwoers, -- koch brothers has been vocal in its opposition to even this bill i just talked about, energy efficiency. remember, these are the same koch brothers whose president tom phillips bragged his organization targets republicans who work on environmental issues. again, you can't make up stuff like this. here is a direct quote: "what it

means for canada on the republican side is this. if you buy into green issue or you play footsy on this issue, you do so at your political peril. the vast majority of people who are involved in the republican nominating process, the conventions and primaries are suspect of the science, and that's our influence. groups like americans for prosperity have done it. they say if you do anything that is good for the environment, they're against you." that's what they said. so try to do something to effect climate change, the koch brothers and their billions of dollars are coming after you not only here in washington; in state legislatures around the country. that statement says it all. the koch brothers admit they and their radical followers don't accept the science of climate change.

the president of koch brothers organization is actually bragging about republicans' denial of evidence-based climate change. the kochs know sign teufpts across the -- scientists across the world aren't working to mislead on climate change. they know that. these scientists that were the nexus of the report issued yesterday they are people working at universities. the university of massachusetts, the one quote i cited today. they know what is going on and that is what the report is about. charles and david koch choose to ignore climate change. the kochs choose to put our environment at risk. why? because it makes them richer and more affluent. they're making billions of dollars, and in so doing are significantly damaging our environment. a "new york times" article recently highlighted the kochs'

attempt to fight renewable energy, even in state legislatures. it became so pronounced that the "new york times" wrote an editorial criticizing these two wealthy, wealthy men. as states promote solar and wind energy by offering incentives to renewable energy companies, the koch brothers see how it will affect their bottom line. they don't like it. they want to continue their coal operations, their diesel fuel operations, their spewing of chemicals all over america because they can make more money. as renewable energy grows and becomes more efficient, and it is, oil and coal become a smaller piece of the pie. that's a fact. and that just won't cut it for charles and david because it affects their bottom line. how unfortunate for the world that the koch brothers trash this beautiful planet and jeopardize my children, my children's children health and

future. just add more zeros to their huge bank account. bloomberg puply occasions now estimate that kochs' combined wealth exceeds $100 billion. how much money is enough for these two men? i urge my republican colleagues in the senate to stand up to them. well, they won't. you know, after i leave, it's going to be a few of them will come down here and say it's free speech, what's wrong? we have an obligation to stand up when these lies are perpetrated to the american people. so no republicans are going -- i know republicans are going to come and -- no republicans are going to come and depend this energy efficiency bill. energy efficiency is good for the american people, for the earth we live in. so don't be fooled, don't be fooled by the greed of these millionaires named koch. and, mr. president, during

today, people will be watching this and i'll see -- and they'll see quorum call, nothing on the screen. why? because we are in the midst again of one of these never-ending filibusters of republicans. hundreds of them, hundreds of them. let me remind everyone, lyndon johnson was majority leader for six years. during that period of time, he had to overcome one filibuster. mr. president, i have lost track. it's hundreds and hundreds of filibusters that we have had to overcome, and we have the republicans coming here saying, well, all we want had a few amendments. they will do everything they can to stop us from progressing on legislation and things that are good for this country. anything that is good for barack obama they think is bad for the country and they for five and a half years have opposed everything that this good man has tried to do. it's a shame. so anyone wondering what's going on out there, it's another of their hundreds of filibusters

they have conducted. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. the clerk will report the motion to proceed. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 368, s. 2262, a bill to promote energy savings in residential buildings and industry, and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president? my staff just told me we're now at more than 500 filibusters. 500. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, i want to say the majority leader has brought to the attention of the senate today the headline news across america. this report by our government about what we are facing with

environmental changes in america is a call to action. i came to the floor yesterday and i made a challenge which i made before. i'll make it again. i am asking any republican senator to come to the floor today and dispute the following claim -- the republican party of the united states of america is the only major party in the world, the only major political party in the world that is in denial of what is happening to our environment when it comes to climate change and global warming. i've said it repeatedly. not one has disputed it. one political party is in denial about a change on this earth that could literally affect generations to come. and as a result, we are, i guess, stopped in our tracks. there is nothing we can do. this bill before us today, the energy efficiency bill which is on the calendar, if there is

ever anything we can agree on, it's this. if your motive in energy efficiency is to save money for a business or family, it's in this bill. if your motive in energy efficiency is to create jobs in america, it's this bill. 190,000, maybe 200,000 american jobs, if your motive is to do something for the environment, energy efficiency is the right thing. but here we are stuck in another republican filibuster. why? because they insist on a series of amendments. the sponsors of this legislation, senator shaheen from new hampshire, senator portman, a republican from ohio, they basically came to an agreement on a bill that is bipartisan in nature, and there are ten or more bipartisan amendments included in this bill. has the minority had an opportunity to be part of this process? absolutely. yet it is never, never enough. they want more and more and more, and they are prepared to slow down or stop the passage of

a bill, which in ordinary times would have passed by a voice vote. that's not going to happen. unfortunately, we're going to be mired down in more procedural votes until some of these senators get the amendments they want. we wasted a week last week, a week in the united states senate when nothing happened, when this bill could have passed. why? one republican senator wanted to offer an amendment on the affordable care act. they have flogged the affordable care act in every imaginable direction, and now this senator wants to deny health insurance coverage or at least make it more expensive for the staff of members of the senate and the house of representatives. as well as members themselves. that's his idea of a good idea to debate on the floor of the senate at the expense of this bill.

well, shame on the senate. shame on those who are obstructing us. we have had enough, have we not, of these filibusters and this obstruction. it's time that we roll up our sleeves and get down to the work of the people of this country. and while i'm on the subject, i'm leaving to go to a committee meeting of the appropriations committee to talk about federal funding for health research. this is another issue which troubles me because of the lack of commitment of this congress to one of the most fundamental responsibilities we have as a government. we are blessed with the best biomedical research agency in the world today. the national institutes of health, one of the most extraordinary public health agencies, the center for disease control, and we continue year after year to underfund these agencies at the expense of america's health and at the expense of creating good-paying jobs in our country. for the last ten years or more, we have failed to give the

national institutes of health protection from inflation, and as a result their spending power to award research grants has declined by 22% over the last ten years. the researchers at the national institutes of health, there are fewer and fewer younger researchers. they have lost hope that there is a commitment by this government, by this nation to medical research. and what is the net result of that? the net result of it is that we at our peril fail to do the research to find the cures for diseases that make a difference in the lives of americans and american families. republicans argue it's just too barned much money. we can't afford medical research. well, let me give you one statistic to think about. last year, medicare and medicaid spent $203 billion of taxpayers'

money, $203 billion on the victims of alzheimer's. $203 billion. if research at the national institutes of health could get to the heart of this disease and find a way to cure it, that would be a miracle. or delay its onset. it seems within the realm of possibility, maybe. we could save dramatic amounts of money. medical research pays for itself. now, listen to what's happening in the house of representatives. we have a proposal for an extension of a tax code provision that will give a break to businesses to invest in research projects. there's nothing wrong with that. i have supported it. throughout my time in the house and senate, i have supported it. but listen, listen to the logic. the republicans in the house argue that if it's an r&d tax credit that goes to the private

sector for research so they can develop new products and services and be more profitable and create more employment, the republicans argue this does not have to be paid for. over ten years, it would cost us $140 billion for the extension of this credit on a ten-year basis to the private sector, and the republicans have argued, yes, this may nominally add to the deficit but in fact it doesn't. the research and development leads to more businesses, more jobs, more tax revenue to the government, and so they argue we don't have to pay for it. now let me step over here. what about the research and development done, the medical research done by government agencies? is that worth some money to taxpayers? absolutely. finding secures for diseases at the n.i.h., alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer, i could go on, each and every one of them would

be a savings to the taxpayers. and yet, they argue no, that's government spending. that adds to the deficit. that is such upside-down thinking. it is such a denial of reality. basic fundamental medical research and biomedical research by these agencies relieve suffering, finds cures for diseases and reduces the expenditures of our government on health care. i would argue that it is just as justifiable if not more so for us to be making the same investment in increasing biomedical research over a ten-year period of time, incidentally at the same cost. a 5% increase, real increase in spending and biomedical research each year for the next ten years at the national institutes of health, the center for disease control, the department of defense medical research, the veterans research medical

research, those four agencies 5% real growth comes out to almost identically the same cost as extending the r&d tax credit for private companies. do them both. do them both and i guarantee you america will get more than $140 billion return from each one of them. thinking ahead in an innovative way with some vision towards the future, investing in research is really buying for the next generation a better life in america and a stronger economy for our country. i want to make that appeal to my colleagues. if we bring the r&d tax credit to the floor here and the argument is made well, we don't have to pay for that because it's going to private companies, the same argument should be made when it comes to increasing our investment in biomedical research on the most fundamental agencies that promote health in america and in the world. back to this bill for a moment.

i hope that by the end of the day, the republicans will end this filibuster, that we can start moving toward passing this bill. it should have been done last year. it should be done now. these excuses that we just need a litany of amendments before we can even consider the bill are just delaying something that's very important for this country. mr. president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: