Congressman Frank J. Guarini Library Blog

On Black Friday, when most people are recovering from either too much feasting or shopping and are not paying attention to the news, the Trump administration released two reports that present dire consequences if the current policies and practices of this presidency are not cancelled.

The first report – Federal Lands Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sequestration in the United States: Estimates for 2005-14 – from the United States Geological Survey – while “simplistic” and limited only to production on Federal lands, does point to a correlation between high fuel production and increased greenhouse gases (19). This is the first attempt are measuring the impact of the fuel sector on levels of gases and sequestration.

The second report, the  Congressionally mandated – Fourth National Climate Assessment – addresses the various impacts that climate change presents and the forecasts are not good. Each individual section of this report resonates with a clarion call for action immediately if this nation is to surmount the encroaching challenges. For example, this statement is from section 4 and summarizes/reinforces other pronouncements in this important document “Future risks from climate change depend primarily on decisions made today.”