Let me give you a number...$290 billion.
Economists Frank Ackerman and Elizabeth Stanton from the Natural Resources Defense Council calculated that putting off adaption and mitigation efforts could cost the United States over $212 billion dollars annually by 2025, and almost $290 billion dollars annually by 2100.
My opponent says "now is not the time" to deal with the effects of climate change, and he and his friends at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce keep repeating that same line: "Now is not the time."
Here is the footage from the campaign event:
The full footage was found on his official campaign YouTube channel, but was taken down shortly after the local media discovered it. You can now find the full footage (the climate change question begins at 10:25) here.
Well, I have a question for Gary: When exactly is the right time?
When do we start working to fix the damage? Next year? Five years? Ten years? When none of our children can breathe because the air is too toxic? When the water becomes so clogged with styrofoam and trash that all of our beaches look like those in your council district that have some of the worst ratings in the state? When, Gary? Just give us a date so we can all look forward to breathing easier.
Climate change is a fact. It is happening, and it is up to us to do something about it.
I have spent more than 20 years working to fix environmental problems that have contributed to the global warming and climate change we can all plainly see before us. Be it working with the shipping industry to reduce emissions by introducing the latest technology at the ports or voting on a comprehensive climate change mitigation plan such as AB 32, I have always been a staunch advocate for the environment.
My opponent still doesn’t believe we should be addressing climate change in this day and age. Yet, somehow he is okay with placing the economic burden on the rest of the country by “kicking the can down the road” for future generations.
The United States Department of Agriculture recently issued a report claiming about 80 percent of agricultural land is experiencing drought, which makes the 2012 drought more extensive than any drought since the 1950s.
We simply cannot afford to disregard the climate -- we cannot afford it now, and we certainly will not be able to afford it later.
In 2010, the U.S. National Research Council concluded that "climate change is occurring, is very likely caused by human activities, and poses significant risks for a broad range of human and natural systems".
Mitigating and adapting to human-caused global warming will not be an easy issue -- this is probably a 30 or 40-year issue or even longer; but, the fact of the matter is that we cannot keep delaying progress by continuing on the same negligent path as before.
We must continue to hold oil companies accountable for emission standards; and, we must move forward with a comprehensive climate change mitigation plan which will lessen our carbon footprint and reduce carbon emission levels down to at least 1990 greenhouse gas emission levels.
When the US Chamber of Commerce, who has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to influence this election, says that environmental legislation are job-killers—that’s not true. Reducing greenhouse gases and other harmful pollutants is a life-saver.
We should expect more from our elected officials. “It’s too hard” is not an acceptable excuse when faced with big challenges.
Voting for climate change and global warming legislation doesn’t win votes, it is just the right thing to do; and, if you’re denying it for political reasons, that's just plain dangerous.
I will be going to bed soon, but I will be answering questions and responding to comments by Saturday at the latest.
Alan