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Feb
07
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Myself? I’m all for cloning!
You’ve probably heard that the clones are here. Well, nearly here. After years of debate, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave the thumbs up last month for farmers to put cloned livestock into our food chain. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) retaliated with the very strong message that breeders should keep their cloned foodstuffs off the market indefinitely, but that’s a totally voluntary choice, so, you know, you don’t really have to if you don’t want to – uh, okay?
Meanwhile, the real powers that be – the biotech companies that have invested millions in this brave new technology – claim hey-diddle-diddle, they just want to take the angst every clueless consumer apparently experiences when shopping to put meat on the table. Just think – no more hours wasted in front of the butcher counter wondering: “That steak? No, wait, maybe that one looks a little juicier and more marbled?” By using Xeroxed cattle, goats and pigs, you’d be assured of the exact same mass-produced quality and cut of meat each and every time. Clone appétit!
All right, I’m not a scientist. So I can’t weigh in (at least with any real authority) on the safety issues of what some (okay, me) are calling "frankenfood" or just plain weird. It does seem to me that cloning isn't all that much of a radical departure from techniques already in use in the agri-industry. For instance, in vitro fertilization and artificial insemination allow breeders to accelerate evolution by cherry-picking superior traits in an animal herd — like cattle that have lean but tender beef or dairy cows that are proven milk producers. By reproducing the healthiest, most disease-resistant animals, cloning can minimize the need for antibiotics, growth hormones and other chemicals that can enter the food supply.
But all the same, something tells me all this shifting of our food production from the field to a laboratory is not a good direction to take. Frankly, I’m not all that thrilled about my local farmer playing matchmaker either. The so-called golden olden times is chockablock with examples of monoculture disasters: the Irish potato famine, Dutch elm disease, the boweevil cotton crisis…today, the banana, which has been bred to the point of sterility, is threatened to extinction by mysterious blight called, with scientific exactness, “sudden death.” So if it’s true that history has a bad habit of repeating itself when we don’t learn the lesson the first time, it would appear that the real scientific breakthrough would involve expanding and diversifying the gene pool and not shrinking it.
However, having just simultaneously researched the FDA news, organized playdates for my kids, caught up on my emails and worked out my family’s schedules for the next month, the following occurred to me: Scientists should stop cloning around in the barnyard. The public just isn’t ready for this sort of other meat. But how about Parent Cloning? I personally would be first in line to duplicate myself.
Think about it – we could be in two places at once or just double up on what we need to accomplish – no more worry and stress about how to pick up one child from the soccer practice and the other from boy scouts and not leave work because a project is due. The possibilities are endless. One of me could sit by the fire and catch up on all my reading, another could go to the gym, a third could have some quality time with my husband, a fourth and fifth could share out lap duty with the kids and then I would need one more to put in overtime so I can afford all of these extra mouths to feed. Hmmm, maybe a cloned cow or two wouldn’t be so bad after all.
I was invited to speak to you today about the problem of global warming. And before we do anything else today, I want to compliment all of you for recognizing that that statement – “the problem of global warming” – is, indeed, a statement of fact. It seems absurd, but there are people in this world who would disagree with you.
Let me read you two relatively recent statements: First: “With all of the hysteria, all of the fear, all of the phony science, could it be that man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people? It sure sounds like it.” And second: “There’s a lot of differing opinions and before we react I think it’s best to have the full accounting, full understanding of what’s taking place.”
The first was said in 2003 by Jim Inhofe, a United States Senator from Oklahoma, who until last year, until Rhode Island and states all over the country voted to change the leadership of Congress from Republican to Democrat, served as the chairman – the chairman! – of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. And the second statement is an October 2000 quote from then-Texas Governor George W. Bush. I think you all know what he does now. In almost exactly a year from now, he will be the former President of the United States of America.
There, in a nutshell, is the challenge for those of us who believe that global warming is, indeed, a serious problem that warrants immediate and significant action.
...Lots more, after the jump...
We have already made a huge difference by replacing backward-thinking, ideologically-driven leaders with forward-thinking, scientifically-driven leaders in the United States Congress. Make no mistake – our state of Rhode Island helped tip the balance of power in the Senate and put the leadership of the Senate Environment Committee in the hands of California Senator Barbara Boxer. I’ve spent a lot of time working with Senator Boxer over the last year, and I can tell you this: she does not believe that global warming is a hoax. Under her leadership and the leadership of many other Democrats in the Senate, we are making progress on global warming. But there is more to do.Remember that second quote. Now that we have new leadership in the Senate, we also need new leadership in the White House – a new President who will put the challenge of global warming right where it belongs, on the front burner of our nation’s priorities. As you all know, tonight is President Bush’s last State of the Union address. For far too long, this administration has let politics govern policy and put blind ideology before scientific fact.
Just last week, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, on which I serve, held a hearing on the request by Rhode Island, California, and a number of other states to set their own tough restrictions on vehicle tailpipe emissions. In December, the Bush Environmental Protection Agency – which under this President has simply not lived up to its name or its mission – denied, denied that request. We brought in EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to tell us why. In all my years as a lawyer, questioning witnesses in courts, in hearings, and in depositions, I have never seen anyone more evasive. After his performance, I have grave concerns that political considerations poisoned what should have been a straightforward, rational, and scientifically-based regulatory process. Our government should never be a party to such manipulation.
I am proud to be a cosponsor of legislation introduced by Chairman Boxer last week that will allow Congress to step in and grant this request by Rhode Island, California, and others – and let these states move forward with their aggressive plans to reduce emissions from cars and trucks within their borders. Rhode Islanders should take great pride that our state is among America’s leaders in its efforts to address climate change. But our nation must have a serious and sustained commitment as well. We must recognize that global warming is a threat, that it must be addressed, and that addressing it will almost certainly require significant and far-reaching action.
I wish I could say I thought we would hear that from President Bush tonight. We need a new President who will understand that when it comes to global warming, good policy is good politics. We need a new President who will choose science over ideology, not the other way around. And we need a new President who will lead this country to action, so we can address this problem before it’s too late. The Brown University community is already well aware of the challenge of global warming – and I applaud you for the steps you’ve already taken to address it.
Our conversation today is part 3 of a series of events taking place all over the country this week, in more than 1,000 colleges, universities and high schools. The students and faculty of Brown have been leaders in the effort to raise awareness about global climate change and find solutions. And once again you’ve set an example for other universities to follow.
With your Brown is Green initiative, begun back in 1991, Brown achieved one of the lowest energy densities and carbon footprints of universities of its kind. You divert an average of 35 percent of solid waste materials for recycling; you have reduced energy consumption to 30 percent below code requirements in building projects since 1992; the vehicles you purchase are among the most fuel-efficient available; and 90% of what you leave on your dining hall tray is delivered to a local pig farmer, resulting in what I’m sure must be among the happiest pigs in New England.
And just last week, you announced a new Community Carbon Use Reduction program to shrink your carbon footprint even further, with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from existing facilities to 42 percent below 2007 levels by 2020 and up to 50 percent for all newly constructed and acquired facilities. You should all be so proud of this extraordinary commitment to energy efficiency.
Under new leadership, the Senate has also finally moved forward to address climate change. Chairman Boxer made the new direction clear in the very first hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee by asking the committee to share our views on global warming and its effect on our country. Working together with many members of Rhode Island’s environmental community, I put together a presentation on the potentially devastating possibility of sea level rise, on the cities and towns along Rhode Island’s coastline.
Chairman Boxer also joined with Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, to introduce the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, which would cut global warming pollutants by 80 percent by 2050. It’s the toughest and most progressive proposal to address climate change that has been introduced in the Senate, and I’m proud to be among its cosponsors. In December, the EPW committee ultimately passed an historic piece of legislation: the Warner- Lieberman Climate Security Act. This was the first time a Congressional committee ever approved a climate change bill, and it represents a giant leap forward in the fight to address global warming.
Over the next 40 years, this bill would reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 70 percent – a great starting point in countering the threat of global warming. I also worked to make the Climate Security Act include measures to get coastal communities like those in Rhode Island the information and resources they need to prepare for the impacts of global warming. The committee’s bill also provides important safeguards that I sponsored to help America’s wildlife and wildlife habitats, especially marine ecosystems, adapt to the shifting environment of a warming world.
The reductions in greenhouse gas emissions called for by the Climate Security Act will be accomplished through a very carefully constructed cap-and-trade program that will force polluters to pay for the costs of pollution. The hundreds of billions of dollars raised from putting a cap, and a price, on pollution will be put towards helping our environment, protecting consumers and helping families adapt to new policies, and transitioning our economy into a green economy.
I will do everything I can to make legislation mandating significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions the law of the land. But I need your help. Your vigilance, your attention, and your activism will keep the pressure on Washington to act – and show that the American people, especially our young people, demand action now. America must be a leader for the rest of the world, and not wait for other nations to act first. And that we cannot leave to your children a world worse off than the one we inherited.
Right here in Rhode Island, we have already begun to see the warning signs. The cherry tree in front of my home here in Providence was in full bloom – in January! This had never happened in the 20 years we’d owned the house. And while this could be just an anecdotal event, the orchard growers in New England also saw January blooms on fruit trees for the first time in their memory. A recent report by the Union of Concerned Scientists documented that temperatures across New England have risen an average more than 1.5 degrees since 1970 – with our winters experiencing the greatest warming of almost 4 degrees.
This warmer weather can result in shifts in the timing of the seasons, which also have the potential to disturb biological phenomena, such as migratory cycles of birds. For example, if a bird’s seasonal migration occurs at the same time every year, it could arrive at its destination out of synch with the tree species that provides it with necessary food but has bloomed early in response to warmer temperatures. The impact of warmer temperatures on land-based ecosystems is matched by effects on marine life, and our oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams.
The environmental heart of Rhode Island is Narragansett Bay. The Bay is our most distinctive ecological feature, running nearly the entire length of the state and affecting every part of our lives. It is our greatest natural resource. As we speak, the Bay is undergoing a significant ecosystem shift as the ocean’s temperature gradually warms. The Bay’s annual mean winter temperature has increased by about 4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 20 years.
This has had a significant impact on fish and shellfish in the Bay. Cold water species, such as winter flounder, that were once abundant in the bay and had a high commercial value have been replaced by warmer water species, such as scup, that have a lower value. It amounts to an ecosystem change, and its impact reverberates throughout the economy. This cycle is predicted to get worse – indeed accelerate – if nothing is done. At higher emissions levels, New England’s climate will become like South Carolina’s. (Ironically, the first summer visitors to Newport were 19th century merchants from the Carolinas seeking to escape that heat.)
The result will be a dramatic shift in the economy, as well as the ecosystem. For example, there won’t be any ski resorts or winter tourism in Northern New England. We may very well lose our famous foliage. So far, the consequences of global warming we’ve experienced here in Rhode Island have been relatively mild. But there are troubling signs all over the world, of worse things to come.
Last July, I joined members of the Environment and Public Works Committee on a trip to Greenland, to get a first-hand look at the massive ice cap that holds about ten percent of the world’s supply of fresh water. We saw the Kangia glacier, pressing out through the Illulissat ice fjord, now recognized as a UN World Heritage Site, and we toured iceberg-filled Disko Bay, on Greenland’s west coast, by boat. We also met with environmental officials and scientists from Greenland and Denmark, who shared their experiences confronting the challenge of the warming earth. As long as I live I will never forget what I heard and what I saw there.
The glacier at Illulissat is melting so quickly that if you stand next to it for merely an hour you can actually watch it move. The Kangia glacier today moves twice as fast as it did just twenty years ago – an acceleration scientists attribute to rising temperatures around the world. If Greenland’s ice cap melts and causes sea levels to rise by as much as 20 feet worldwide, the nightmare scenario of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” could be realized. Newport’s historic waterfront would be overwhelmed by its harbor. Barrington would be submerged. Downtown Providence, just blocks from where we sit, would be underwater. It is a frightening scenario for this Ocean State, and one that should leave not a single person in this room complacent about the challenges, and the dangers we face.
But I am heartened by the knowledge that if we act boldly, we can overcome these challenges. And many of the solutions will come from young men and women like you. We are on the cusp of a new “green” economy, with new jobs and new skills we are only just beginning to learn. In addition to blue collar and white collar jobs, we should add green collar. In just the next two years, it’s projected that the so-called “clean-tech” sector will produce 50,000 new jobs.
These jobs are being created by huge infusions of venture capital. From 2005- 2006, venture capital investments in the clean-tech sector more than doubled – from $623 million to $1.5 billion. Some of those 50,000 jobs may go to students sitting in this room today. To aid this effort, I am a strong advocate for increasing investment in climate change research and technology programs from the federal government. Federal investment in climate change research increased to $5.44 billion in Fiscal Year 2007, with approximately $1.5 billion dedicated to renewable energy research.
Much of this research is taking place on college campuses around the nation, including Brown. This is a promising new economy, starting with the simple proposition that it will gradually divert the close to $300 billion dollars we spend annually on foreign oil, back into the American economy. New expertise will flourish in the design, manufacture, installation, operation, and maintenance of clean, efficient energy technologies.
Expertise is being taught now, for the first time, to college students, and your generation will lead the way in revolutionizing our economy and stabilizing our environment. There is so much still to do to address the challenge of global warming. We can do it – but we must do it together. Today is a part of that, so thank you for participating.
There are times when the world changes because new opportunities emerge and new generations reach out to seize them. There are times when the world changes because it must. This time is both. Thank you.
A young herring gull whose wing was impaled by a lightning rod on a Newport roof was rescued by volunteer wildlife rehabilitators.