Washington (December 12, 2015) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Climate Change Clearinghouse, released the following statement after the full negotiating body of the COP21 negotiations released a final agreement. Senator Markey, a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, is former Chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global warming and is co-author of the only comprehensive climate change legislation to pass a chamber of Congress. Last week, Senator Markey joined a delegation of ten Senators who traveled to COP21 for the Paris talks.
“For the first time at any UN climate conference, the urgency of the impacts was matched by the urgency of world leaders to act on climate change. The result is a global solution to global warming - an agreement that commits the nations of the world to all doing their fair share to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support climate-smart economic development. The people of the United States and the entire world owe a debt of gratitude to President Obama, Secretary Kerry, Special Envoy Todd Stern and the entire U.S. negotiating team for their efforts and success.
“American leadership was key to crafting this global roadmap to a clean energy future. Now, governments and businesses have a strong signal to invest in and develop the technologies that will make a low carbon economy a reality. America can lead this clean energy revolution, and then we can partner with developing nations to share this technology and protect the world's poorest and most vulnerable.
“This agreement will support a shift to sustainable economic growth that will be just what the United States needs to catalyze the changes in our energy system that we do want, and to end the changes to the climate system that we don’t.
“Even as Republicans and Big Oil work to lift the crude oil export ban here in the United States, the nations of the world have taken one giant leap forward with this agreement. It’s time for the America to move forward with President Obama’s Clean Power Plan and enact the clean energy policies that will create jobs here in American and fulfill our moral duty to future generations.”
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