multibillion-dollar winter sports industry in colorado which relies on plenty of snow and cold weather to thrive. professional skier cody sorillo told me, i'm quoting him here, i fear there will be no more snow by the end of the century. i fear a whole ski culture will cease to exist. i fear economic impacts on summit county and all other mountain towns. i fear the loss of an industry that has given me so much. i fear that kids will not get the opportunity to see a first snow, to feefl winter's -- to feel winter's inaugural bite on the nose and to miss out on so many wonderful lessons. these fears are driving cody and other world-class athletes to speak out. he and his fellow p.o.w. members

aren't giving in. they're speaking up. there are many reasons coloradans are acting on climate and transitioning their energy mix away from fossil fuels. colorado has the benefit of fossil fuels, but they want to protect their beautiful, natural landscape. they want to sustain their winter sports and hospitality industries. they want a healthy prosperous future for their children and they understand the risks of developing those fossil fuels. they recognize that there are strong forces coming in the energy market -- forces that will shift away from frak and natural coal. coloradans know it's better to lead that shift than to wait

until the bottom drops out. we've known for a while that coal is facing big problems. murray energy, a major coal company with cozy ties to the trump administration just filed for bankruptcy last week. alarms are going off about natural gas, a type of fuel that the fossil fuel industry touts as less dirty. in boulder, paul bodner, managing director of the rocky mountain institute, highlighted a report r.m.i. issued in september, showing just how quickly this shift -- this cost reduction across the renewable spectrum, is going to make the economics of natural gas untenable.

r.m.i.'s report fortells -- i'm quoting here -- ar -- a turning point for the relative economics of clean energy sources, including wind, solar, storage, energy efficiency, and demand flexibility, versus new gas-fired generation. the report continues. for the first time the rapidly falling costs of renewables and batteries are allowing optimized combination of these resources to systematically out compete gas-fired generation on a cost basis while providing all the same grid services. end quote. same grid services means same reliability, same availability,

but at a lower costs -- at a lower cost. here's a graph showing how fast clean energy will overtake gas plants. this has been the falling cost of clean energy. this is the cost of building and operating a new gas plant. this is the cost of operating an existing gas plant. so we are now at the crossover point where it's cheaper to use renewables, clean energy power, than it is to build new natural gas plants, setting aside the pollution and the other extraneous costs, all of what the economists would call extranalaties that comes with burning natural gas.

setting aside that, just on even the heavily subsidized existing natural gas pricing, clean energy still beats it right now and they are projecting that it's going to go ahead and by about 2035, it will be cheaper to build a new clean energy power facility than it will be to continue to feed natural gas into your existing already built depreciated natural gas facilities. just on price is where we are going. so somebody building natural gas facilities into this projected future has a real problem on their hands. r.m.i. has found that clean energy resources beat on price

alone -- on price over 80% of proposed gas-fired power plant capacity and that clean energy will render 70% of proposed gas plants uneconomic, can't compete, just on price by 2035. in other words, it won't make sense even to run, let alone build, those uneconomic natural gas plants. they'll be shuttered. they'll be stranded assets dealing a financial blow to the company or the investors that own them. and if the utilities can shove that cost through to their consumers, leaving consumers in the lurch. if over half of your fleet is stranded, that's catastrophic for a utility company just on

the economics. and it actually gets worse for natural gas. a new investigation by the watchdog group unearthed based on data from a very respected fossil fuel industry firm, the expert consulting firm ricetad. based on their data, the new report finds that the big oil company's promise to curb the methane emissions from natural gas extraction appear to be completely bogus. the report found that the biggest industry players, including exxonmobil and b.p., were among the worst when it comes to wasting and burning off methane. so natural gas is facing a

double whammy. first natural gas is worsening our climate crisis faster than we knew and some of our biggest fossil fuel companies are driving the problem. now while we're finding out how the fossil fuel industry has misled us about its methane emissions and about how much leakage and burning off there is, we're being treated to the spectacle of one of the biggest fossil fuel industry trade groups, the american petroleum institute launching a seven-figure ad campaign to convince america that, quote, we're on it. we're america's natural gas industry and we're on it when it comes to greenhouse gas

emissions. well, not so much apparently. this ad campaign looks like just more fossil fuel industry disinformation. it's an industry that just can't seem to help itself from saying things that aren't true. anyway, if you pair natural gas rapidly becoming uneconomic against renewables with the emerging data showing a much bigger methane problem for the industry, that pairing -- that combined result is very gloomy for natural gas investors. so that is why, back to colorado, it's such a smart move to unhitch your energy market from those fuels while you can.

savvy move, colorado. mr. president, across this country americans are already acting on climate. in the face of the president's extraordinary ill-advised decision to pursue departure from the paris agreement, states, municipalities, major corporations are all standing up and saying, nope, we're still in. they get the problem that we face. they get how important it is, and it is time, mr. president, for us in the senate to join them in waking up and coming up with a solution to this evident problem. i thank the presiding officer. i yield the floor, and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

full mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: i ask unanimous consent that jesse ownie, an intern in my office be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the congress. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: mr. president, it's one of my favorite times during the week when i get to come down on the senate floor. i know it's the senate pages' time to learn a little about alaska and talk about my state and present what we weekly call the alaskan of the week. it's the opportunity to talk about someone in the community who has done something great for their community, for the state, maybe for america and i'd like to recognize this great variety of wonderful alaskans, great americans that we have in my state and talk about them. by the way, mr. president, i always like to give a little update on what's going on in

alaska and to talk to people in the gallery and who are watching on tv and encouraging them now is the time to plan your next trip to alaska if you're going to come next summer, but also you should know the winter which is -- you know, winter is coming. it's pretty much come to alaska. it's a great time to come visit, too. it's a winter wonderland. you can ski, snowboard. at the end of the day sit back, drink something warm and watch the northern lights dance in the sky. you can't do that in many states in our great nation. so come on up. trip of a lifetime. we want you to come whether it's summer, winter, fall, spring, doesn't matter. you'll not be disappointed if you come visit us in the great state of alaska. so, mr. president, i'm going to break the rules a little bit on the alaskan of the weej week -- of the week. i usually recognize one but we're going to recognize four

alaskans, four teachers in my state who are the recent recipients of the president's award for excellence in math and science teaching. so here they are. joshua hall, a math teacher at diamond high school in anchorage and the chair of the math program there. jennifer childress is also a teacher at diamond, teaching science and engineering courses. she currently teaches 11th and 12th grade physics and advanced placement in physics. don wilcox teaches second grade at campbell elementary school in anchorage and angie wright teaches fourth and fifth grade math in juneau, alaska. so we are very, very proud of them. this is a great achievement of all four of these wonderful teachers. this is the -- this award is the highest honor bestowed by the united states government

specifically for k-12 science, technology, engineering, mathematics and computer science teaching, something we need more of, not just in alaska but in america. and we need great teachers who can do this and that's what this award recognizes. mr. president, as any state has, alaska, north dakota, we have thousands of teachers in my state who do such great work day in and day out to make sure our next generation is not only educated on the facts but also understand in the words of the great leader nelson mandela, education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. that's nelson mandela said that. these four teachers have been working hard every day for years so that their students will go out and do just that, change the

world. make alaska, america, the world a better place. they as well as our teachers all across the country, all across alaska certainly have one of the most important and most difficult jobs. so we salute all of them. but i want to salute these four teachers in a little bit more detail. they have chosen not only to master these science, engineering, physics subjects but to teach it to the next generation. now, despite a slight improvement in the stem skills of americans over the last 20 years, it's widely recognized that the united states is still being outpaced by countries all over the world in these critical subject matters. so now more than ever our country desperately needs skilled americans, skilled professionals who can innovate for our nation, who can improve

our nation's infrastructure, advance our health care system, build the tools that defend our country, and ensure our nation's prosperity and a strong economy. we need stem education. there is so much to say about all four of these teachers, but let me give you a brief example of how they're teaching the youth of alaska in these critical areas. mr. hall, a math teacher at diamond high school who by the way has former students and fans in my office. this is a bit of a theme, mr. president. a lot of these teachers have taught some of -- a lot of my staff right now, including jesse here. he's been an educator, mr. hall, for more than 20 years, has been teaching math for the past 14 years at diamond high and as the department chair, he decided that the school needed an event where math students could show and take pride in the skills

that they are learning. so he worked with another math teacher to design and organize a schoolwide math competition. they just had their fourth annual event. 175 students participated. the audience cheered. students were excited. it was a huge deal studying math. that's really cool. it's great. gosh, 175 students. so, that's mr. hall. mrs. childress is also at diamond high and also has a big fan base in my office of former student, including jesse, i believe. she has taught for over 20 years, 14 of which have been teaching science and engineering courses at diamond. she helped found the engineering academy at diamond and she and another teacher developed and ran a program called smart girls

rock. smart girls rock. exposing freshmen and sophomore girls to female engineers from anchorage and encouraging young women to pursue stem careers. now, as a father of three daughters, i know just how important it is to do that. so a fun fact. mrs. childress and mr. hall have been married for 23 years which makes this award all the more special for both of them. i would call them a true power couple in alaska smem education -- system education. miss wilcox, the teacher from campbell elementary has had a 20-year career and has been teaching at campbell for the past three years. working with her colleagues, she created a stem school at campbell, the first stem elementary school in anchorage. again, these are innovators. you can tell these teachers are innovators. also as a project for the

iditarod teacher in every classroom which is a science program based on our famous sled dog race, the iditarod, she worked with another colleague to get their classroom to adopt and improve a local park. miss wilcox' second graders appeared before the school board, the community council, the parks commission to advocate for their idea. so not only are they learning stem, but they're learning civics and for their efforts, they were awarded a $20,000 anchorage parks foundation matching grant and the park now has outdoor learning labs, pass signs and is a joy to visit. so all you visitors who are going to come to alaska, you've got to make sure you check out this great, new innovation in our parks. finally, let me talk about miss wright. miss wright has been an educator for over 16 years. she began her career teaching in

murla, alaska, the heart and soul of our state. she taught at akbay in juneau where she was born and raised. she's passionate about incorporating place-base knowledge into the classroom. she says that every year her students participate in place-base learning. they pick berries, a traditional part of alaskan native subsistence lifestyle in order to gather the data and more detailed information about our incredible environments throughout the state. quote, students in my classroom learn a lot of alaskan native languages and participate in klinket dance groups performing around alaska. she takes her fourth and fifth grade students on a field trip to the ecosystem so they can learn how animals adopt to survive in different environments. teaching in alaska is a gift and

taking advantage of it is something i value very much, miss wright said. it was in fact, mr. president, a sentiment expressed by all four of these teachers who won this very prestigious award. mr. president president, henry adams once wrote that a teacher affects eternity. he or she can never tell where their influence actually stops. think about that, teacher impacts eternity. the influence these teachers have over the lives of so many young alaskans will really never stop. as i mentioned, my -- many members and staff members of my office are direct recipients of this influence, which will continue, help to grow the next generation of leaders, workers,

dreamers, thinkers, and doers, and i'm sure the next generation of teachers through their example. and as these students, in turn, will continue to make our state and our country, the great places that they are, we can't thank these teachers enough for what they've done. so i want to graduate mr. hall, ms. childress, ms. wilcox, and mr. wright for this great award and for all they do, for their dedication and passion for math and science and for your commitment to alaska's next generation. and, of course, i want to congratulate them on being this week's alaskans of the week. i yield the floor.

mr. sullivan: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: for the information of senators, tomorrow the senate will vote on the confirmation of the rudofsky

and wilson nominations at 11:45 a.m. and the confirmation of the nardini nomination at 1:45 p.m. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of senate res. 396, and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 396, designating october 2019 as national health literacy month. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i

further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m., thursday, november 17, further, that following -- 7, excuse me. 10:00 a.m. thursday, november 7, further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the rudofsky nomination under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: if there is no further business to come before

the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the the presiding officer: the today senators voted to confirm danielle and of organ court of appeals judge for the ninth circuit. and they also voted to limit debate on the number of brother judicial nominations. including a u.s. court of appeals judge for the second circuit. our live coverage of the senate continues when senators return. sunday night at book tv on afterwards, former speaker of the house newt gingrich, with his latest book trump versus china. i don't say the chinese have any great planning and certainly in the next 20 to 25 years, to troy to take us on militarily and in a traditional sense. but i do say they're trying to build the dive boat cyber

capabilities and i say this is part of work while weight is an extraordinary national asset to them. i say they are trying to build capability in space both of which have global implications screaming minute teen easter, journalism professor, talks about her new book, diversity inc. screaming what i'm not optimistic about is white america's ability to see past the fiction of african-americans and let next people, the centuries old demeaning images. the people in and that has much to do with the lack of diversity. >> watch book tv every weekend on c-span. cspan2 . r, we are making it easier for you to watch cspan2 his coverage of the impeachment

inquiry and the administrations response. if you miss any of our life coverage, good or impeachment inquiry page cspan.or cspan.org/impeachment. for video on demand. a vented tally from the associated press showing where each house democrat stands on the impeachment inquiry against president trump. all the impeachment inquiry on a webpage as c-span .or .org/impeachment. it is your fast and easy way to watch cspan2 his unfiltered coverage anytime. >> earlier the democratic attempt to bring up restating the senate support for whistleblower protections. with luck by senator rand paul. the side of a campaign rally for president trump in kentucky, senator vocals with the name of the whistleblower started the impeachment inquiry. he made public. >> on july the 30th, 1778,