Markey: Doing nothing on climate change means ‘bleak future’

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said Monday that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report proves the United States needs to create more clean energy.

The United Nations (UN) report on climate change found that global emissions of greenhouse gasses have risen to unprecedented levels despite a growing number of policies to reduce climate change.

{mosads}However, the report also said technological developments and clean energy use could combat some effects of global climate change.

Markey said this was an opportunity for the United States to become a global leader in clean energy advancements.

“This report says we have a choice. Our planet and our economies can have a bright future by engaging in a clean energy race, or we can do nothing and have a bleak future for the human race,” Markey said. “This is our chance to engage in clean energy job creation that is also good for all of creation.”

Markey, who has served in Congress for more than 30 years, has been an ardent critic of fossil fuels and has helped pass massive climate change legislation. He said Monday that more needed to be done.

“We must enact the policies that moves our planet away from the dirtiest fuels like coal and tar sands, and unleashes the human entrepreneurial spirit in the name of clean energy and job creation,” Markey said. “I call on all of my colleagues in the Senate to respond to the science, to realize the huge economic potential, and to re-engage on solving the greatest challenge of our time.”