Washington D.C. – Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) today released the following statement responding to recent remarks by President Obama who is visiting Alaska to promote his climate change agenda.
Chairman Smith: “The president and his EPA have become travelling salesmen, touring the world to push their extreme climate change agenda. But the science doesn’t support the president’s exaggerated claims linking climate change to severe weather events. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated there is ‘high agreement’ among leading experts that long-term trends in weather disasters are not due to human-caused climate change. And the only thing certain about long-term climate predictions is that they’re certain to miss the mark.
“Meanwhile, the president’s only solution is costly, far-reaching EPA regulation. But hardworking American families deserve to know how ineffective these so-called solutions would be. EPA’s own data show that its Power Plan regulation would eliminate less than one percent of global carbon emissions and would reduce sea level rise by only 1/100th of an inch, the thickness of three sheets of paper. But it will do lasting damage to our economy, stifle economic growth, destroy jobs and increase energy prices for all Americans. The president is on thin ice to claim his costly plan will address climate change or benefit Americans.”
Background: Hurricanes have not increased in the U.S. in frequency, intensity or normalized damage since at least 1900. It has been nine years since a Category 3 or stronger hurricane made landfall in the U.S. Government data also indicates no association between climate change and tornado activity. Whether measured by the number of strong tornadoes, tornado-related fatalities or economic losses associated with tornadoes, the latter half of the 20th century shows no climate-related trend.
The data on droughts yields similar results. For example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded that “climate change was not a significant part” of the recent drought in Texas. The latest IPCC report states there is “low confidence” in climate-related trends for flood magnitude or frequency on a global scale.