Carper Statement on Federal Report Highlighting Significant Impacts of Climate Change

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, released the following statement regarding a report drafted by scientists across 13 federal agencies that highlights the significant impacts of climate change on the United States. Contrary to claims made by President Trump and members of his cabinet, the draft report concludes that human activity is a primary contributor to climate change and that its effects are already being felt across the country.

The report has been approved by the National Academy of Sciences and must be approved by the 13 agencies that contributed to it, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), by August 18^th.

“Our second president, John Adams, rightly noted that facts are stubborn things and that ‘whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.’ Despite its best efforts, including censoring employees, dismantling websites and abandoning nearly 200 other countries, the Trump Administration cannot change the facts about climate change.

“The science has been clear and this comprehensive report produced by the very agencies President Trump oversees reiterates what the vast majority of the world already knows: human activity has caused temperatures to rise rapidly over the last 30 years, which poses serious and increasing risks to our way of life. Instead of spending time and resources trying to deny the facts, the administration should be using its energy to address an issue that we know is already affecting every corner of our country. Absent leadership from the White House, cities and states will lead the way in tackling this challenge of our lifetime, and the American people will continue to pursue the truth and the facts relentlessly.”

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