I flew into Greenland a few days ago with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and some of my colleagues on the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming; with me was the most recent copy of National Geographic. I glanced at the title of the cover story on global warming, "The Big Thaw" and looked, fascinated, out the window, knowing the vast Greenland Ice Sheet below is rapidly melting. A few hours later, I was sitting in a boat in the harbor in Ilulissat, looking at a massive glacier – 54 cubic miles of ice -- that is moving to the sea at twice the rate it was just 10 years ago. Global warming is real; I could see it happen before me.
To talk with the indigenous Inuit Greenlanders, who number 56,000, is to begin understanding the staggering impacts of global warming in human terms. Their centuries-old tradition of subsistence fishing and hunting has been turned upside down by the changes they’ve witnessed in their lifetimes. Their extensive descriptions of fish that have disappeared and ice sheets that no longer extend far out into the ocean added a poignancy and urgency to the importance of our mission here. It is one thing to read reports about the disappearance of the Greenland Ice Sheet – and quite another to fly over this stunning landscape, sense its vastness, and realize how much is at risk. When this 2-mile thick ice sheet melts, it will raise sea levels around the world by 20 feet.
This is not a problem we can put off any longer.
Leaving Greenland, we continued our whirlwind journey and arrived in Berlin at 4:00 am. Four hours later we met with Germany’s Foreign Minister, Frank Walter-Steinmeier. Clearly preoccupied by the implications of global warming, he politely but directly pointed out that the United States is out of step with the rest of the developed world. Our next meeting was with Germany’s Minister of the Environment, Sigmar Gabriel, who was as eloquent as any of our witnesses before the Select Committee when speaking about the impacts and opportunities presented by global warming. He joined others in crediting the United States with the innovation of the cap-and-trade system used to deal with acid rain, and strongly urged us to apply this same approach to carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to reduce global warming. We ended the day with a series of meetings, tours, and a dinner with U.S. Ambassador William R. Timken, Jr.
The following day, after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, we flew to London to meet with members of the British Parliament on global warming. All three British parties – the ruling Labor Party, the Liberal Democrats, and the Conservatives -- agree on the immediate need to craft a comprehensive plan to deal with global warming. While admittedly differing on some of the details, they demonstrated a refreshing spirit of unity, cooperation, and urgency. They recalled meeting with U.S. Congressman James Sensenbrenner when he was Chairman of the Science Committee and being incredulous that he was not convinced of the urgency of global warming. They were surprised that he is now the lead Republican on the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. We concluded our London stay by meeting Sir Nicholas Stern, former chief economist for the World Bank and author of the Stern Report. This highly respected report concluded that the modest costs for dealing with global warming will be far less than the costs incurred by both developed and developing nations if we ignore this accelerating challenge.
Clearly, the European Union expects the United States to play a leadership role in addressing global warming. India and China, who are poised to replace the United States as the largest sources of global warming pollution, see no reason to take action as long as the United States -- being richer and having contributed far more to global warming -- fails to do its part. The United States has been the major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions for the last century; these pollutants will remain in our atmosphere for decades to come. The expectation that the United States will join international efforts to curb global warming will surely be a priority topic at the G8 Summit taking place June 6-8. Chancellor Merkel, who serves as both President of the European Council and the G8 this year, takes her leadership positions seriously and is clear on her commitment to addressing global warming. The British government is proud of its accomplishments but also painfully aware that even if it is successful in eliminating all of its greenhouse gas emissions, the total emissions level worldwide will drop by only 2% -- a paltry amount when compared to the emissions generated by the United States, India, and China. It is simply imperative that we work together to solve this international crisis.
Despite the challenges ahead, I came away from these meetings with a sense of optimism. Officials from Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and the United Kingdom believe the costs of curtailing carbon emissions are not just tolerable, but in the long run will save money and can even become an economic boom. Speaker Pelosi’s tremendous focus and determination is a clear signal that the United States is moving from the sidelines to become a major participant in addressing this global challenge. Her leadership and ability to showcase the deep concerns of other members of Congress made an impression on our European hosts, who are looking for signs of optimism as they go into the G8 Summit and proceed to negotiations for the next round of international agreements, beyond Kyoto.
I am eager for the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming to get back to work, collaborating with other House committees to address energy conservation, energy independence, and global warming. We have a number of opportunities to make a difference this Congress, beginning this month with energy legislation, and I am confident that we will be able to do it.