Senate Proceeding on Nov 10th, 2009 :: 2:24:10 to 2:35:00
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2:24:10 to 2:24:31( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: yield the floor. mr. vitter: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. vitter: thank you, madam president. dam president, i rise to talk about the kerry-boxer climate change bill which, sadly, was reported out of the committee, contrary to its rules and precedent, without any discussion or amendment.

2:24:10 to 2:35:00( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: David Vitter

2:24:32 to 2:24:52( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: first of all, let me again underscore -- i think it's really, really unfortunate that a 1,000-page bill, a bill with enormous potential impact on our life, was pushed out of committee with no republicans being present, with not a single amendment being considered, and

2:24:53 to 2:25:13( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: in my opinion directly contrary to the very rules and prose dent of the committee. but, madam president, i want to focus on specific provisions of the bill that are particularly troubling to me, that underscore how serious a matter this what enormous impact it could

2:25:14 to 2:25:34( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: have on our economy and indeed on our way of life. and title of the presentation is why carbon credits don't matter. so many companies, so many people particularly within the beltway are concerned about their allocation of carbon credits but

2:25:35 to 2:25:55( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: because of sections in the bill, which also exist word for word in the waxman-markey bill, the carbon credits won't matte because section 705 and 707 will shut down significant economic activity, no matter what carbon credits certain people and

2:25:56 to 2:26:18( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: certain companies have. let me explain what i'm talking b section 705-e and section 707 are very important in basically, section 705(e) says that we are to track the global measurement of greenhouse gas emissions and specifically to

2:26:19 to 2:26:42( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: see if they are held below a threshold set in the bill, a goal set in the bill of 450 parts per million carbon dioxide equivalent. then section 707 says, beginning july 1, 2015, if the global concentrations are above this

2:26:43 to 2:27:03( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: 450 parts per million line, then -- quote -- "the president shall direct relevant federal agencies to use existing statutory authority to take appropriate actions identified in the reports submitted under sections 705 and 706 and to address any shortfalls identified in such reports."

2:27:04 to 2:27:26( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: what does that means, if you bust this 450 parts-per-milln line, the president doesn't have authority to take action; he is mandated to take every administrative action possible, to use every agency in the federal government under him -- "he shall direct

2:27:27 to 2:27:48( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: them to address whatever shortfalls there are between that 450 part of-per-million line are. one significant factor in all of this, whether weak ever reach that goal of limiting -- whether we can ever reach that goal of limelighting greenhouse gases to 450 parts her million is what other countries -- particularly

2:27:49 to 2:28:09( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: the developing world -- are going to do. one thing that's really problematic with this entire plan is the g-5 developing countries and russia have made it crystal clear that they will not accept any tax. i cite here a clear quote from a chinese top foreign ministry

2:28:10 to 2:28:31( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: official, a clear quote from the minister of state for environment of india, top economic advisor of russia's president about that issue. all of these statements -- and many more -- make it crystal clear that the g-5 and russia

2:28:32 to 2:28:52( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: will not accept any such hard -- hard cap. because of this, i wrote to the e.p.a. on july 15 and asked several questions. one is basic to this issue. "what does your modeling say if the g-5 and russia reject hard caps?" pretty significant scenario

2:28:53 to 2:29:13( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: because it seems very clear that it is the scenario that will happen, based on the statements of those conings. the e.p.a. answers that it has not even analyzed that scenario. these other countries have made it clear that they're going to reject hard caps. the e.p.a. has not analyzed this scenario.

2:29:14 to 2:29:35( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: because of that, i then went to the department of energy's pacific northwest national laboratory. that is "the" leading modeling expert in these matters that federal government agencies starting with the e.p.a. depend upon. in factor the e.p.a. helped direct to us this laboratory. and

2:29:36 to 2:29:56( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: what is the modeling say if the g-5 and russia reject hard caps? as they?? have absolutely promised to do. the pacific northwest laboratory answered that none of the models they use -- and they use ten models -- none of those models

2:29:57 to 2:30:18( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: under this scenario produce global concentrations at or below 450 parts per million of co2 equivalent greenhouse gases. so underll of those models,e break through this goal set in the bill. this chart shows what d.o.e.'s

2:30:19 to 2:30:39( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: pacific northwest laboratory model predicted when the g-5 and russia reject all hard caps. already we're in the 400's. in about a year we break through the 450 limit to 451, and then it goes up from there. now what does that mea

2:30:40 to 2:31:02( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: context of this legislation? and specifically, the sections i talked about a minute ago. well, the legislation says that july 1, 2015, if this green line is above 450, then the president is mandated to take whatever acti is necessary, use all

2:31:03 to 2:31:24( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: tools available to get us back to this 450 limit. and so, under this scenario, the g-5 and russia rejecting hard caps, which is an absolute certainty based on their clear pronouncements, this mandate under those significant sections

2:31:25 to 2:31:45( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: of the legislation, both kerry-boxer and waxman-markey, exactly the same language in both, this mandate goes into effect and would absolutely go into effect. what does that mean? well, the first thing it means is that carbon credits, which everybody is focused on, so many

2:31:46 to 2:32:08( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: people and companies are fixated on, carbon credits won't matter if your project, if your economic activity takes any discretionary federal permit. because beginning july 1, 2015, the president will be mandated -- not authorized, not encouraged, nothing is suggested -- he will be mandated

2:32:09 to 2:32:29( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: to take any action possible to get us down to that limit. and that would include denying all discretionary permit requests. what else does it mean? it means under that mandate in the law, you can bet that every left-wing environmental group in the world, much less in this

2:32:30 to 2:32:50( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: untry, will sue to block all economic activity that require discretionary permits. and, quite frankly, they will have a very compelling case. they will point to this legislative language, if it's enacted, and say time out, the president isn't just authorized to do this.

2:32:51 to 2:33:11( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: the president isn't just encouraged to do this. the president is mandated to take every action he can, which clearly would include denying all discretionary permits, to push that curb, that green curve back down to 450 or as low as it

2:33:12 to 2:33:32( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: can go. and so what does that mean? that means carbon credits are meaningless if you nee a discretionary permit for any economic activity or any new economic project. this is a very important aspect of the bill. agai

2:33:33 to 2:33:53( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: exactly the same language is also in waxman-markey, as it passed the full u.s. house of representatives. and this gives an enormous mandate to the president of the united states to absolutely take action once those global greenhouse gas emissions get

2:33:54 to 2:34:17( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: above 450. and so my message is clear, particularly to the companies who have supported this legislation because they have been credits. the message is clear, carbon credits won't matter if any of your activity, if any of your

2:34:18 to 2:34:38( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: new projects or proposed projects requires any discretionary federal permit. to deliver that message crystal clear to those companies, in particular, tomorrow i am writing a significant leading handful of those companies who so far have supported the

2:34:39 to 2:34:59( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: legislation, pointing out the enormous impact of these sections, 705 and 707,nd asking them to focus very clearly on what it means to their projects, to their economic activity, to their bottom line. because, again, carbon credits

2:35:00 to 2:35:01( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: won't matter once this enormous