Floor SpeechCeremonial2026-04-29

UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. RES. 551

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Context

On 2026-04-29, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) delivered a floor speech titled "UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. RES. 551" in the Senate. The speech addressed immigration and also covered taxes, climate policy. It referenced legislation including S2138, S2141, S2139, among other bills.

Full Text

UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. RES. 551

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 75 (Wednesday, April 29, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 75 (Wednesday, April 29, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S2138-S2141] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. RES. 551 Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I am here with regard to a unanimous consent resolution. I have tried one before to pursue a simple truth that climate change is real. Earlier this year, I came to the floor and asked my colleagues if they could all agree on that simple scientific fact. Sadly, given the nature of this body, they could not. So we are going to break it down into smaller bits because the reality of climate change is made up of many, many simple truths; and I hope that by breaking it down piece by piece, I can find areas where my colleagues will agree. Today's simple truth: Sea levels are rising. Can we agree on that? The resolution specifically says: ``recognizing that sea levels are rising at accelerated rates due to human-caused climate change.'' As global air temperatures rise, obviously, so do the temperatures of the oceans. Here is a graph showing the increase in ocean heat content. It is measured in zettajoules. ``Zettajoules'' is a very big number. ``Zetta'' means it has 18 zeroes. It is a billion trillions or a trillion billions, depending on which way you want to go about it. To put it at a more practical scale, the entire production of energy by the human species on all of planet Earth adds up to one half of a zettajoule. The price we pay for the fossil fuel component of that half zettajoule of energy is an ocean whose temperature is increasing by around 15 zettajoules a year. It is a 30-times magnifier because of the effect of fossil fuel emissions. And as ocean heat content grows, seawater expands. The physical nature of seawater is to expand as it warms. And it also melts nearby glaciers, and both result in higher sea levels. Combined, glacier melt and thermal expansion of water cause global sea levels to rise, and the rates are accelerating over time. Here is the curve of global sea level rise. It is one of the most unambiguous indicators of what emissions are doing on our Earth to our natural systems. Sea level rise has been going at accelerated rates since about 1863, which lines up right with the dawn of the Industrial Revolution when greenhouse gas emissions began to rise as we burned coal, natural gas, and oil. Depending on the trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions, sea level rise in the United States could range between 2 and over 7 feet by the end of this century. That is a particularly dangerous proposition when you consider that 3.7 million Americans in the contiguous United States live on land less than 3.3 feet above high tide. And it doesn't come up like the bathtub; it comes up and is still subject to tide and storm, so it can be driven ashore at far higher levels than 2 feet or over 7 feet. Most of the impact will be in Florida, Louisiana, California, New York, and New Jersey. My home State of Rhode Island and my colleague Senator Markey's home State of Massachusetts will share that unfortunate experience. Sea level rise isn't just evidence of a change in climate; it has real consequences. Thirty percent of people living in the United States live in coastal areas which puts them at risk from rising seas, increased flooding, shoreline erosion, and storm hazards. And it is not just people at risk. Mr. President, $10 trillion in goods and services are produced in coastal areas of the United States. Rising sea level will not only cause what we call increased sunny day flooding, like when there is no rain to cause flooding; it is just tide and sea level rise, but it will also increase the amount of flooding from storms and from storm surges, and that will cost lives and money. Indeed, it is already disrupting insurance, mortgage, and real estate markets. I have spoken elsewhere about the meltdown in Florida in those markets. Florida was recently described as the biggest loser for real estate values of all the 50 States, and it relates back to this cascade from climate risk to insurance being unavailable or too expensive to afford, to mortgages being compromised, to property values taking a hit. There is some lessons we should learn from what has already happened. Mr. President, $8.1 billion of the $62 billion ascribed to Hurricane Sandy connects back to the rise in sea levels. Could have saved $8 billion were the sea level rise not happening. Everywhere, high water levels that were once rare--1-in-100-year events are becoming 1-in-10- or 1-in-5-year events. Up to 13 million Americans will face displacement from sea level rise by 2100. That is assuming that all goes smoothly, but all doesn't always go smoothly. There are tipping points in life. My favorite example is a rowboat. If you put more and more weight in the rowboat, the water goes up and up the side of the boat. And there is not much change as the water goes up and up the side of the boat. But then you hit a tipping point where the water flows over the gunwale and into the boat. That is a big tipping point difference because suddenly it is not just more and more of the hull down in the water; it is the whole boat catastrophically falling, flooding, sinking to the bottom of the lake or the sea. So tipping points are to watch for. Most ice is found in polar regions with as little as 1.5-degrees celsius of warming. The Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets could be destabilized. That would be a major tipping point. Our Earth has already warmed 1.2 degrees celsius. So getting to 1.5 is not far away. And Greenland, for instance, is warming four times faster than the global average. So that puts us at the risk of the polar ice tipping point very soon. Sea levels are expected to rise by 20 to 25 feet. Not 2 feet to 7.2 feet; 20 to 25 feet if the Greenland ice sheet melts and an additional 10 to 17 feet if the West Antarctic ice sheet melts. The disintegration of either ice sheet would render major cities uninhabitable and completely destroy America's coastal communities. So here is the simple truth: sea level rise is real. It is happening. Fossil fuel-caused climate change is accelerating its effects. Indeed, it is already disrupting American lives, pocketbooks, and families. Mr. President, I will yield to Senator Markey from Massachusetts and return to make the actual unanimous consent request. Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I thank the great Senator from Rhode Island, from the Ocean State. I represent the Bay State. We kind of have a relationship with the ocean in Rhode Island and in Massachusetts. That is why we are here. I rise today in support of Senator Whitehouse's resolution recognizing the grave threat of sea level rise due to human-caused climate change. After decades of fossil fuel companies polluting our planet, ocean and atmospheric temperatures are rising. Our glaciers and ice sheets are melting. Greenland's ice sheet is three times the size of Texas. And in some areas, the ice is 2 miles high. So just think of Greenland this way: 1,000 miles long, 300 miles wide, and a block of ice on it--the world's biggest ice cube--2 miles high is on top of Greenland, and it is melting. So just think of a full glass of water: the Atlantic Ocean. Now, just drop the [[Page S2139]] biggest ice cube into an already full--an already full--glass of water. It just creates a flood no matter where you have done that. So in 2007, when Speaker Nancy Pelosi named me as the chair of the Climate Committee in the House of Representatives, she asked me: Where should we go? And I said: Well, our first visit should be to Greenland because it is the scene of the crime. So we went up there end of May and out about 50 miles deep into Greenland on top of the 2-mile high icecap, and there is already lakes that are forming because the Sun starts to melt it in May and June and July and August. What that water does on top of that 2-mile high ice cube is it starts to eddy out groove marks all the way down to the bottom of that 2-mile high ice cube. And then that water--that now warm water--starts to liquefy the bottom of that body of ice. And they measure on the Richter scale ice quakes inside of that big ice cube. And that is what is happening on the planet. Greenland is a perfect example. I am so glad that Senator Whitehouse raised it because it is the scene of the crime; and all along the East Coast, we are going to see absolutely catastrophic consequences if we don't stop it. I mean 2 miles--I am thinking 30 football fields high of just ice going straight up in the air--30 football fields. That is what this is. That ice and ice all around the world is running into the ocean faster and faster and causing seas to rise. The result has been sea level rise on a global scale. In the 20th century, sea levels rose nearly 9 inches over the 20th century. Now, as climate change speeds up, we are expected to see that amount of sea level rise from 2000 to 2030 as much as a foot--1 foot additionally--in just 30 years. The rate of rise is accelerating, and if we continue to emit greenhouse gases that warm up that ice, sea level just won't quit. It is going to get worse and worse and worse. And for coastal communities across the country like those in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, this rate of rise is very, very real. It means more frequent and severe flooding events, eroding beaches, worsening storm surge, catastrophic consequences. I mean, in the year 2000, there were three climate-related events that cost $1 billion worth of damage--three in 2000. Two years ago, 27 events occurred in our country that cost $1 billion worth of damage, and the total amount was $180 billion just out of those 27 events, much less all of the other climate-related damage that was being caused. It is getting worse and worse and worse, and it means billions of dollars in infrastructure

Referenced legislation: SRES551, SRES551

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UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. RES. 551 Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 75 (Wednesday, April 29, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 75 (Wednesday, April 29, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S2138-S2141] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. RES. 551 Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I am here with regard to a unanimous consent resolution. I have tried one before to pursue a simple truth that climate change is real. Earlier this year, I came to the floor and asked my colleagues if they could all agree on that simple scientific fact. Sadly, given the nature of this body, they could not. So we are going to break it down into smaller bits because the reality of climate change is made up of many, many simple truths; and I hope that by breaking it down piece by piece, I can find areas where my colleagues will agree. Today's simple truth: Sea levels are rising. Can we agree on that? The resolution specifically says: ``recognizing that sea levels are rising at accelerated rates due to human-caused climate change.'' As global air temperatures rise, obviously, so do the temperatures of the oceans. Here is a graph showing the increase in ocean heat content. It is measured in zettajoules. ``Zettajoules'' is a very big number. ``Zetta'' means it has 18 zeroes. It is a billion trillions or a trillion billions, depending on which way you want to go about it. To put it at a more practical scale, the entire production of energy by the human species on all of planet Earth adds up to one half of a zettajoule. The price we pay for the fossil fuel component of that half zettajoule of energy is an ocean whose temperature is increasing by around 15 zettajoules a year. It is a 30-times magnifier because of the effect of fossil fuel emissions. And as ocean heat content grows, seawater expands. The physical nature of seawater is to expand as it warms. And it also melts nearby glaciers, and both result in higher sea levels. Combined, glacier melt and thermal expansion of water cause global sea levels to rise, and the rates are accelerating over time. Here is the curve of global sea level rise. It is one of the most unambiguous indicators of what emissions are doing on our Earth to our natural systems. Sea level rise has been going at accelerated rates since about 1863, which lines up right with the dawn of the Industrial Revolution when greenhouse gas emissions began to rise as we burned coal, natural gas, and oil. Depending on the trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions, sea level rise in the United States could range between 2 and over 7 feet by the end of this century. That is a particularly dangerous proposition when you consider that 3.7 million Americans in the contiguous United States live on land less than 3.3 feet above high tide. And it doesn't come up like the bathtub; it comes up and is still subject to tide and storm, so it can be driven ashore at far higher levels than 2 feet or over 7 feet. Most of the impact will be in Florida, Louisiana, California, New York, and New Jersey. My home State of Rhode Island and my colleague Senator Markey's home State of Massachusetts will share that unfortunate experience. Sea level rise isn't just evidence of a change in climate; it has real consequences. Thirty percent of people living in the United States live in coastal areas which puts them at risk from rising seas, increased flooding, shoreline erosion, and storm hazards. And it is not just people at risk. Mr. President, $10 trillion in goods and services are produced in coastal areas of the United States. Rising sea level will not only cause what we call increased sunny day flooding, like when there is no rain to cause flooding; it is just tide and sea level rise, but it will also increase the amount of flooding from storms and from storm surges, and that will cost lives and money. Indeed, it is already disrupting insurance, mortgage, and real estate markets. I have spoken elsewhere about the meltdown in Florida in those markets. Florida was recently described as the biggest loser for real estate values of all the 50 States, and it relates back to this cascade from climate risk to insurance being unavailable or too expensive to afford, to mortgages being compromised, to property values taking a hit. There is some lessons we should learn from what has already happened. Mr. President, $8.1 billion of the $62 billion ascribed to Hurricane Sandy connects back to the rise in sea levels. Could have saved $8 billion were the sea level rise not happening. Everywhere, high water levels that were once rare--1-in-100-year events are becoming 1-in-10- or 1-in-5-year events. Up to 13 million Americans will face displacement from sea level rise by 2100. That is assuming that all goes smoothly, but all doesn't always go smoothly. There are tipping points in life. My favorite example is a rowboat. If you put more and more weight in the rowboat, the water goes up and up the side of the boat. And there is not much change as the water goes up and up the side of the boat. But then you hit a tipping point where the water flows over the gunwale and into the boat. That is a big tipping point difference because suddenly it is not just more and more of the hull down in the water; it is the whole boat catastrophically falling, flooding, sinking to the bottom of the lake or the sea. So tipping points are to watch for. Most ice is found in polar regions with as little as 1.5-degrees celsius of warming. The Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets could be destabilized. That would be a major tipping point. Our Earth has already warmed 1.2 degrees celsius. So getting to 1.5 is not far away. And Greenland, for instance, is warming four times faster than the global average. So that puts us at the risk of the polar ice tipping point very soon. Sea levels are expected to rise by 20 to 25 feet. Not 2 feet to 7.2 feet; 20 to 25 feet if the Greenland ice sheet melts and an additional 10 to 17 feet if the West Antarctic ice sheet melts. The disintegration of either ice sheet would render major cities uninhabitable and completely destroy America's coastal communities. So here is the simple truth: sea level rise is real. It is happening. Fossil fuel-caused climate change is accelerating its effects. Indeed, it is already disrupting American lives, pocketbooks, and families. Mr. President, I will yield to Senator Markey from Massachusetts and return to make the actual unanimous consent request. Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I thank the great Senator from Rhode Island, from the Ocean State. I represent the Bay State. We kind of have a relationship with the ocean in Rhode Island and in Massachusetts. That is why we are here. I rise today in support of Senator Whitehouse's resolution recognizing the grave threat of sea level rise due to human-caused climate change. After decades of fossil fuel companies polluting our planet, ocean and atmospheric temperatures are rising. Our glaciers and ice sheets are melting. Greenland's ice sheet is three times the size of Texas. And in some areas, the ice is 2 miles high. So just think of Greenland this way: 1,000 miles long, 300 miles wide, and a block of ice on it--the world's biggest ice cube--2 miles high is on top of Greenland, and it is melting. So just think of a full glass of water: the Atlantic Ocean. Now, just drop the [[Page S2139]] biggest ice cube into an already full--an already full--glass of water. It just creates a flood no matter where you have done that. So in 2007, when Speaker Nancy Pelosi named me as the chair of the Climate Committee in the House of Representatives, she asked me: Where should we go? And I said: Well, our first visit should be to Greenland because it is the scene of the crime. So we went up there end of May and out about 50 miles deep into Greenland on top of the 2-mile high icecap, and there is already lakes that are forming because the Sun starts to melt it in May and June and July and August. What that water does on top of that 2-mile high ice cube is it starts to eddy out groove marks all the way down to the bottom of that 2-mile high ice cube. And then that water--that now warm water--starts to liquefy the bottom of that body of ice. And they measure on the Richter scale ice quakes inside of that big ice cube. And that is what is happening on the planet. Greenland is a perfect example. I am so glad that Senator Whitehouse raised it because it is the scene of the crime; and all along the East Coast, we are going to see absolutely catastrophic consequences if we don't stop it. I mean 2 miles--I am thinking 30 football fields high of just ice going straight up in the air--30 football fields. That is what this is. That ice and ice all around the world is running into the ocean faster and faster and causing seas to rise. The result has been sea level rise on a global scale. In the 20th century, sea levels rose nearly 9 inches over the 20th century. Now, as climate change speeds up, we are expected to see that amount of sea level rise from 2000 to 2030 as much as a foot--1 foot additionally--in just 30 years. The rate of rise is accelerating, and if we continue to emit greenhouse gases that warm up that ice, sea level just won't quit. It is going to get worse and worse and worse. And for coastal communities across the country like those in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, this rate of rise is very, very real. It means more frequent and severe flooding events, eroding beaches, worsening storm surge, catastrophic consequences. I mean, in the year 2000, there were three climate-related events that cost $1 billion worth of damage--three in 2000. Two years ago, 27 events occurred in our country that cost $1 billion worth of damage, and the total amount was $180 billion just out of those 27 events, much less all of the other climate-related damage that was being caused. It is getting worse and worse and worse, and it means billions of dollars in infrastructure Referenced legislation: SRES551, SRES551