WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a Senate Budget Committee Hearing today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) said that the dramatic increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas in the atmosphere and its role in raising global temperatures is creating a crisis situation and that the United States must lead the world to address it.

“The data is clear: the dramatic rise in CO2 has led to higher temperatures in the atmosphere – and it’s leading to a crisis situation.” Senator King said. “The question then becomes one of action, and I believe we must act. I have a hard time telling people in Maine that they’ll have to pay six dollars for a gallon of gas while China and India do nothing. But our doing nothing is not going to provoke them to act. This is a global issue, and it must be dealt with on a global scale – but somebody’s got to lead. The United States is in the best position to do that.”

Senator King cited data demonstrating that average global temperatures throughout glacial time have closely tracked the level of CO2 present in the atmosphere, with both CO2 and temperature fluctuating across history. Since the Industrial Revolution, CO2 levels have increased at dramatic rates to levels not seen for at least eight hundred thousand years, which as Senator King pointed out, the scientific community believes will likely be followed by an increase in temperature. Witnesses at the hearing agreed with Senator King’s assessment that climate change is a man-made phenomenon and that the real focus should be on working to find solutions.

The Budget Committee Hearing, entitled “The Costs of Inaction: The Economic and Budgetary Consequences of Climate Change” focused on how climate change is not only an environmental and economic challenge, but also increasingly a fiscal challenge, and examined how failing to mitigate the risks associated with climate change will affect the U.S. federal budget.

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