Schatz: Climate Change is Why Disasters are Piling Up
Video of Senator Schatz’s Remarks Available Here
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) spoke on the Senate floor about recent storms in Hawai‘i and the warming planet’s role in making disasters more frequent and severe. Schatz highlighted the damage and disruption caused by Hurricanes Lala and Lowell in recent weeks and the need for the federal government to help communities across the country not just respond to, but also prepare for, disasters as they occur more often.
“In recent weeks, Hawai‘i experienced two separate hurricanes which destroyed homes and roads, closed schools and offices, and left thousands of people in the dark. 90 percent of the island of Kaua‘i lost power during Hurricane Lowell earlier this month – that’s how extensive the damage was – and crews are still working to restore power. People on Hawai‘i Island, meanwhile, are still picking up the pieces from Hurricane Lala last month which damaged 267 homes; washed out roads, bridges, and even a cemetery; and left people without water and power. And now, the state is bracing for yet another storm,” said Senator Schatz.
“There is a reason these destructive disasters are piling up one after another, leaving communities exhausted and governments depleted. It’s the warming planet,” Senator Schatz added. “Disasters used to be an unfortunate reality you had to deal with from time to time. Now, we’re getting back-to-back hurricanes on top of historic floods that dumped more than two trillion gallons of water on the state earlier this year and catastrophic fires that leveled Lahaina three years ago. That is not normal.”
A transcript of Senator Schatz’s remarks is below. Video is available here.
In recent weeks, Hawai‘i experienced two separate hurricanes which destroyed homes and roads, closed schools and offices, and left thousands of people in the dark. 90 percent of the island of Kaua‘i lost power during Hurricane Lowell earlier this month – that’s how extensive the damage was – and crews are still working to restore power. People on Hawai‘i Island meanwhile are still picking up the pieces from Hurricane Lala last month which damaged 267 homes; washed out roads, bridges, and even a cemetery; and left people without water and power. And now, the state is bracing for yet another storm. According to the National Hurricane Center this one could bring “life-threatening, catastrophic flooding and mudslides” across parts of Hawai‘i Island and Maui. It has been one storm after another this year.
We grieve those who died in the storms. And as always, we’re so grateful to the neighbors, first responders, linemen, and state and local officials who have been working together to help people in need. In the hours after the storms, people brought over shovels to clear debris from streets and driveways and checked in on neighbors while their own power was out. And in the days following, crews worked around the clock to restore power as quickly as possible. That’s what we do in Hawai‘i…we take care of each other. That’s the aloha spirit. And as response gives way to recovery, we will do everything we can to make sure federal support is available for as long as it’s needed.
But today, I want to talk about something I’ve been reluctant to raise in my 14 years in the United States Senate. And that’s that there is a reason these destructive disasters are piling up one after another, leaving communities exhausted and governments depleted. It’s the warming planet.
Now, look, when someone’s sitting in the dark without power for days, or worse, they’ve lost a loved one or their home, they don’t want to hear about how drier fields and warmer oceans are the culprits for their pain. And they’re right. In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, our collective obligation – but especially the government’s obligation – is to set politics aside and help. Not to make a point you’ve always wanted to make or say, “I told you so,” but to help. And so I’ve always hesitated talking about disasters in this context.
But the reason I feel so strongly that it’s time we named the problem, as uncomfortable as it is, is that we can’t go on like this. Disasters used to be an unfortunate reality you had to deal with from time to time. Now, we’re getting back-to-back hurricanes on top of historic floods that dumped more than 2 trillion gallons of water on the state earlier this year and catastrophic fires that leveled Lahaina 3 years ago. That is not normal.
Now, it’s true that we’re in an El Niño year, and a particularly bad one at that. But this isn’t isolated to just this year nor is it limited to just Hawai‘i. For three years in a row now, we’ve had more than 20 disasters nationwide, each costing over a billion dollars in damages. And the world’s eight hottest months ever on record have all been in the past three years. You can chalk that all up to being a terrible coincidence – maybe it’s the weather fairy acting up. Or, you can trust your own eyes. Because we all see it and feel it.
You feel it when you go to the park and your kids can’t breathe because of smoke from a wildfire that’s burning hundreds of miles away. You feel it when you have to board up your windows and gather up supplies as yet another storm approaches. You feel it when you move to a new state and find out you can’t get home insurance anymore. You don’t need a fancy science degree to understand what’s happening, nor do you need to love the outdoors to want to do something about it. We’re all paying the price for our inaction.
And so what do we do about it? The most obvious answer is to scale clean energy and reduce pollution as aggressively as we possibly can. But that’s not going to happen overnight and these disasters are on our doorsteps today. And so we need a plan to help communities prepare for and respond to disasters in the here and now. Improving evacuation routes. Hardening power lines. Pre-positioning equipment and supplies. Making sure people have access to AC and heating. Clearing underbrush to slow or stop fires. Building infrastructure to reduce the risk of flooding. These are the kinds of steps we need to be taking right now to protect people.
Most of my colleagues here know that disasters aren’t a partisan problem. Hurricanes and floods and tornadoes and fires don’t pick and choose their targets based on how the last election went. This week, it’s Hawai‘i. It was Texas and Indiana earlier in the summer. It will be somewhere else next. There, but for the grace of God, go I. And so we need to step up here. States and localities are lurching from one disaster to the next, and they need help. And every day Congress pretends like we don’t know what’s happening, more and more people will get hurt.
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