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SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, California, United States—The congresswoman of the district with the largest population of Filipinos in the continental US assured that the US will do its part to support typhoon relief efforts in the Philippines and will reduce the carbon emissions that are causing climate change.
At a town hall meeting at Orange Park in this city on October 17, Representative Jackie Speier (Democrat-California) informed her constituents from the Filipino community that “out of $5 million that has been earmarked for disaster relief in Asia in the last month, more than $3 million has been allocated to the Philippines.”
"I am very concerned that we continue to monitor the situation, to deal with the health issues that are coming up now," she added.
Speier disclosed that she plans to visit the Philippines as soon as she obtains authorization from her congressional committee so that she can personally assess the damage and get a sense of the amount and nature of aid that the Philippines will need to deal with the disasters.
The congresswoman recently sponsored House Resolution 800 which expressed Congressional sympathy for the typhoon victims. "It was passed unanimously by the Congress taking note of the typhoon and tropical storm that hit the Philippines, the aid that the United States has offered, and our commitment to stand by the Philippines like they stood by us in World War II," Speier said.
As she explained when she recently co-sponsored the House resolution declaring October as Filipino American History Month, “the 12th Congressional District is home to more Filipino Americans than any other in the country. As a resident here all my life, I know about the invaluable contributions Filipino Americans make to the very fabric of our society.”
As a resident and voter in her district, I asked Rep. Speier whether the US was doing its part to decrease the effects of global warming that was causing the polar ice caps to melt at an accelerated rate, raising the water levels of the oceans and effecting massive flooding in low-level countries like the Philippines.
“First of all,” she began, “I want everyone here to know that global warming is a fact. The scientific evidence is overwhelming.”
In her response, Speier spoke of her recent trip to China with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi where they discussed climate change issues with Chinese authorities. “China is now the leading polluter in the world,” she said.
Speier said that surprisingly the Chinese accepted their responsibility and promised to reduce carbon gas emissions but insisted that the US should do more because the US was the top polluter for so long and much of the carbon released over those years are still up in the air. The destruction of the earth’s ozone layer has been caused by decades, if not centuries, of carbon pollution.
On the part of the US, Speier said that on June 26, 2009, the House passed HR 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security (Aces) Act of 2009 which seeks to promote renewable sources of energy, carbon capture and sequestration technologies, clean electric vehicles, and smart grid and electricity transmission. The bill would also place limits on emissions of heat-trapping pollutants by a mechanism known as cap-and-trade which aims to cut global warming pollution by 17 percent compared to 2005 levels in 2020, by 42 percent in 2030, and by 83 percent in 2050.
The House bill may face tough opposition in the US Senate where many Republicans have rejected or ignored the scientific evidence of global warming and refuse to place any carbon limits on American manufacturers fearing that it would discourage growth.
Speier contended that promoting new alternative green technology will create new industries and new jobs which will spur the revival of the American economy.
But even the target of 17 percent reduction by 2020 may not be enough, according to the delegates from 180 countries that met in Bangkok last September 29 to discuss emissions reduction targets.
"Ketsana is clearly a manifestation of the consequences of global inaction in addressing the immediate impacts of creeping climate change," chief Philippine climate negotiator Heherson Alvarez told reporters in Bangkok.
He added that rich nations must act urgently "to moderate these storms and spare the whole world from the impoverishing and devastating impacts of climate change. Unless we have deep and early cuts, it will continue to deliver these destructive typhoons."
The United Nations climate panel that convened in Bangkok advised that rich nations need to cut their emissions by 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 to help limit the rise in planet-warming carbon dioxide levels.
Speier related her experience in meeting with Alaskan natives in a stopover in Anchorage on the way to China. She said that more than 30 years ago, “they warned us about what global warming was doing to their lands but we did not listen. Now, they say it’s too late. We can only adapt.”
“Their villages have literally been melting into the sea due to rising temperatures and eroding ice," she said.
"The permafrost itself is melting, releasing enormous volumes of greenhouse gases with it. Though it is one thing to understand the magnitude of these geologic changes, it is another entirely to meet with the people who have subsisted on these lands for thousands of years and hear them describe what these changes are doing to their way of life. Clearly, the consequences of global warming are real and imminent.”
“Safeguarding the future of our planet is a moral issue. As a lifelong resident of our beautiful district, I consider it my duty to fight for measures necessary to end our addiction to fossil fuel and preserve a cleaner, safer, and healthier planet for future generations.”
