CLTV: Politics Tonight - Climate Tour
This article originally appeared on CLVT on April 29, 2013. A copy of the article can be found here.
By: Paul Lisnek
Paul Lisnek: Well climate change you take a look at the tornadoes and hurricanes and the flooding and all the crazy weather going on and ah it’s hard to believe it’s not real. Some people don’t think so but I’ll tell you one guy that does, Congressman Mike Quigley, Democrat from Illinois 5th Congressional district. He joins me now by phone. Congressman, good evening, welcome back to Politics Tonight.
Rep. Mike Quigley: Welcome thanks for having me.
Paul Lisnek: I appreciate it. Of course not all of your colleagues in congress actually believe that climate change is an issue and the environmental impacts. So, let me just start off by asking you are you sure it’s real?
Rep. Mike Quigley: Well, there’s over 200 now peer reviewed scientific studies that say climate change is real, it’s accelerating, and it is dramatically contributed to by actions of man. There are exactly 0 scientific peer reviewed studies to say otherwise. And we had, I formed a forum today about this issue the last few days we started talking about this and some of the best and brightest from Chicago land areas talked about this issue and what it’s going to do to the Chicagoland area.
Paul Lisnek: And I know you’ve been on a climate tour and I want to talk to you about that but we have a caller online who was right with us at the beginning part of the conversation in terms of our topic. So let me bring Steve from the Gold Cost in. Steve, go ahead with your comment or question for Congressman Quigley.
Steve: Yes, I wanted to… actually the Congressman stole a bit of my thunder in talking about… We need to make clear in something that I do not think not many Americans recognize and that is this is settled science. But in… outside of the circles of the scholarly community you would be led to believe if you listen to the talk radios, if you listen to, with all due respect, to FOX News that somehow this is a debate that is going on amongst scholars. There’s a question to whether or not man made climate change exists and there is no debate this is settled science and I think that’s the message that you need to get across because as long as people think there’s a debate then it becomes analogous to the question of cigarette smoking in 1950. Where there was a debate between one side of science and another side. There is no longer the debate.
Paul Lisnek: Alright Steve, I appreciate that and of course Congressman the analogy to smoking is interesting but of course with smoking you lose one person at a time. If you don’t buy into the climate argument you may cost yourself civilization.
Rep. Mike Quigley: Well exactly, and here in Chicago we’ve had droughts in the Midwest. Lake Michigan is at record low levels. We’ve been told that it’d take up to 9 years of higher than normal precipitation just to get back to normal. Although, the number one factor there is just how warm things are. The fact that we don’t have ice cover anymore. And oh, by the way we’ve had the third, hundred year storm in the last six years. We’re going to have to re-define our terms. So I just want to thank everybody who helped us put together this climate tour. A lot of folks followed us on social media and our institutions like the Field Museum, the zoo, the botanical gardens, Shedd Aquarium, the forest reserve and others are just absolutely outstanding. The University of Chicago sent some folks, bringing up this issue and what needs to be done.
Paul Lisnek: And by the way as you are talking our viewers are seeing a little bit of the footage of you touring around and seeing these things. I know it ended with a symposium but the real impact Congressman is when you get back to Washington what kind of legislation are we going to see? You are going to re-introduce some legislation you’ve tried before.
Rep. Mike Quigley: Yah, its not going to be quite as… the fact of the matter is we’ve passed a significant bill out of the House in my first term, the Waxman bill. The chances of that bill seeing time on the floor is zero and none which is very sad. So you know I think the other avenue here is that we use this office as a bully pulpit to educate, advocate, inform. To lead and use the extraordinary assets we have in the city of Chicago. Like the Field Museum is doing great research on this as well as others and to bring this to the public’s attention letting them know this stuff is happening on the national basis too. We have greater storms are more severe. We have more drought, more wild fires. It’s going to be very expensive and very dangerous if we don’t start acting.
Paul Lisnek: And I know one of the pieces of your legislation is about studying birds at the Field Museum and you’ve noticed, not that you’ve noticed, scientists shown migratory patterns are changing. You know, we do see birds. You know, It’s a very different life. Well some people would say they’re just birds who cares but of course birds, insects one impacts the other people have to understand.
Rep. Mike Quigley: Well there’s an extraordinary connection in the web of life here of the fact that plants are blooming earlier, that insects aren’t necessarily there or there disconnect in time between everything that’s involved between insects, birds and plants. And we may look because we are in an urban area sometimes outside the view of an ecosystem. Well Chicago is an ecosystem and climate change is going to have a very negative impact on the Chicago ecosystem and citizens from every point in the city of Chicago should be aware of it and they need to do everything they possibly can to live a more sustainable life.
Paul Lisnek: So your efforts are to get some more research here in Chicago, that’s your job, that’s where you live, but as you said you don’t expect to get all that much support necessarily in the House. So where are the efforts coming? Are you going for federal funding? Are you trying to make efforts are the state level, the states broke too. Where is it you expect the effort to be? Whose going to make these programs happen?
Rep. Mike Quigley: Well look there’s federal funding and some of those critical federal grants are funding the research that’s taking place at Chicago’s institutions. So, we have to keep moving forward there. The President’s done a good job on some elements of this. You know he’s implemented rules that will dramatically increase fuel efficiency in the next 20 to 30 years and that’s going to make a big difference. You know, we have to work on green jobs through alternative energy transportation programs. Efficiencies, fuel efficiency in particular in the Chicago land area people can get involved with urban agriculture. Plant native species. You know turn down the thermostat, walk more, ride your bike and drive less.
Paul Lisnek: You know, with just about a minute we have left let me ask you a general question. The President had a press conference today and at one point asked about budget matters and all that he said ‘Congress seems to think it’s my job to make them play well together. That’s not my job, that’s their job.’ Where does it go? The republicans say the President isn’t setting the direction and agenda, the President says Congress needs to get its act together and do their job, that’s why they’ve been sent to Washington. What’s your take?
Rep. Mike Quigley: I, my take is that there are a lot of moderate Republicans that who are responsible and want to work together and bring back regular order as we call it budgeting authorizing and appropriating our responsibility to do otherwise is to abdicate our responsibility. I still believe the Republican Party has been hijacked by the minority of the majority which is the Tea Party and has skewed everything to the far right and basically created stale mate which is not the Presidents fault.
Paul Lisnek: Alright, well then we will see then when you all go back next week. Whether you can get back together then. We are going to stay in touch with you. Congressman Mike Quigley, Democrat of 5th district here in Illinois, thanks for your time sir. Always appreciate it.
Rep. Mike Quigley: Thank you, take care.
Paul Lisnek: Alright you too.
