CLIMATE CHANGE: THE IMPACTS AND THE NEED TO ACT OVERSIGHT HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION Wednesday, February 6, 2019 Serial No. 116–1 Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov or Committee address: http://naturalresources.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 34–954 PDF WASHINGTON : 2019 COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES RAU´ L M. GRIJALVA, AZ, Chair DEBRA A. HAALAND, NM, Vice Chair GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN, CNMI, Vice Chair, Insular Affairs ROB BISHOP, UT, Ranking Republican Member Grace F. Napolitano, CA Don Young, AK Jim Costa, CA Louie Gohmert, TX Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, CNMI Doug Lamborn, CO Jared Huffman, CA Robert J. Wittman, VA Alan S. Lowenthal, CA Tom McClintock, CA Ruben Gallego, AZ Paul A. Gosar, AZ TJ Cox, CA Paul Cook, CA Joe Neguse, CO Bruce Westerman, AR Mike Levin, CA Garret Graves, LA Debra A. Haaland, NM Jody B. Hice, GA Jefferson Van Drew, NJ Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, AS Joe Cunningham, SC Daniel Webster, FL Nydia M. Vela´zquez, NY Liz Cheney, WY Diana DeGette, CO Mike Johnson, LA Wm. Lacy Clay, MO Jenniffer Gonza´lez-Colo´n, PR Debbie Dingell, MI John R. Curtis, UT Anthony G. Brown, MD Kevin Hern, OK A. Donald McEachin, VA Russ Fulcher, ID Darren Soto, FL Ed Case, HI Steven Horsford, NV Michael F. Q. San Nicolas, GU Vacancy Vacancy Vacancy David Watkins, Chief of Staff Sarah Lim, Chief Counsel Parish Braden, Republican Staff Director http://naturalresources.house.gov (II) CONTENTS Page Hearing held on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 .................................................... 1 Statement of Members: Bishop, Hon. Rob, a Representative in Congress from the State of Utah ... 4 Dingell, Hon. Debbie, a Representative in Congress from the State of Michigan, prepared statement of ................................................................. 114 Grijalva, Hon. Rau´ l M., a Representative in Congress from the State of Arizona ...................................................................................................... 1 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 3 Hice, Hon. Jody B., a Representative in Congress from the State of Georgia, prepared statement of ................................................................... 115 Statement of Witnesses: Baker, Hon. Charlie, Governor, State of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts ............................................................................................... 17 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 19 Questions submitted for the record ......................................................... 27 Cobb, Kim, Director, Global Change Program; Advance Professor, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia ........................................................................................................... 64 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 66 Questions submitted for the record ......................................................... 70 Cooper, Hon. Roy, Governor, State of North Carolina, Raleigh, North Carolina ......................................................................................................... 7 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 9 Questions submitted for the record ......................................................... 10 Curry, Judith A., President, Climate Forecast Applications Network, Reno, Nevada ................................................................................................ 83 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 85 Questions submitted for the record ......................................................... 93 DiPerna, Paula, Special Advisor, CDP North America, New York, New York ................................................................................................................ 71 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 73 Hollie, Derrick, President, Reaching America, Bennsville, Maryland ......... 80 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 81 Questions submitted for the record ......................................................... 82 Nazar, Nadia, Co-Founder, Co-Executive Director, and Art Director, Zero Hour Movement; Co-Organizer of the Youth Climate March, Perry Hall, Maryland ....................................................................................................... 54 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 56 Yeampierre, Elizabeth, Executive Director, UPROSE, Co-Chair of the Climate Justice Alliance, Brooklyn, New York .......................................... 59 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 61 Questions submitted for the record ......................................................... 64 Yearwood, Lennox, Jr., President and CEO, Hip Hop Caucus, Washington, DC ............................................................................................ 77 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 79 Additional Materials Submitted for the Record: Facebook, Letter dated February 8, 2019, Submitted for the Record .......... 115 List of documents submitted for the record retained in the Committee’s official files .................................................................................................... 116 (III) IV Page Additional Materials Submitted for the Record—Continued Submissions for the Record by Rep. Graves Letter addressed to the President from Senators Cantwell, Schumer, Menendez, and Markey on oil production dated May 23, 2018 ......... 43 Average Electricity Prices for each State, chart ..................................... 45 Submission for the Record by Rep. Grijalva Highlights from the NOAA Report, U.S. and Global Climate for 2018 46 Submission for the Record by Rep. Westerman Dilbert Cartoon .......................................................................................... 49 OVERSIGHT HEARING ON CLIMATE CHANGE: THE IMPACTS AND THE NEED TO ACT Wednesday, February 6, 2019 U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources Washington, DC The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:07 a.m., in room 1324, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Rau´ l M. Grijalva [Chairman of the Committee] presiding. Present: Representatives Grijalva, Napolitano, Costa, Sablan, Huffman, Lowenthal, Cox, Neguse, Levin, Haaland, Van Drew, Cunningham, Vela´zquez, Clay, McEachin, Case, Horsford, Bishop, Gohmert, Lamborn, McClintock, Gosar, Westerman, Graves, Webster, Hern, and Fulcher. The CHAIRMAN. Let me call the Committee on Natural Resources to order. The Committee today is meeting to hear testimony on the impacts of climate change and the need for Congress and the Administration to act. Under Committee Rule 4(f), any oral opening statements at hear- ings are limited to the Chairman and the Ranking Minority Member. Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that all other Members’ opening statements be made part of the hearing record if they are submitted to the Clerk by 5 p.m. today. Hearing no objection, so ordered. Welcome, everyone, to the first hearing of the 116th Congress for the Natural Resources Committee, and thank you to our witnesses for appearing before us, as we begin to tackle one of the most urgent and pressing challenges of our time. THE HON. RAU´ L M. GRIJALVA, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ARIZONA The CHAIRMAN. The majority of Americans consider meaningful action on climate change to be a moral and economic imperative. They are absolutely right. And they have friends on this Committee, including myself and other colleagues who are here to work on solutions. Climate change is real. The emissions we produce from burning fossil fuels are making it worse. It is a threat to our public health, national security, infrastructure, and natural resources. We are seeing the impacts now, and they will grow stronger unless we change course. Our communities are paying the price for years of inaction on this issue. The massive and unprecedented storms, heat waves, fires, and droughts we are experiencing are not normal. They are being made worse by climate change, and if we don’t take action now, we are only at the beginning of this process. (1) 2 The last 4 years have been the 4 hottest years ever recorded. Ice sheets are melting far faster than previously thought. The coast of Alaska is literally disappearing into the ocean. Indigenous villages are already having to relocate. We will see more climate refugees as time goes on. Parts of our planet where people currently live may very well become uninhab- itable. Every day that we fail to act increases the costs of addressing this crisis for future generations. Putting our heads in the sand puts people’s lives at risk and our Nation’s safety in jeopardy. Today, we turn the page on this Committee from climate change denial to climate action. The Democratic Majority is here to listen to people, to work for