Thank you so much Janice, and hello AGU! It’s great to be back here with all of you.

We’re coming together at a crucial moment for the future of science…and the future of our planet.

We’ve just lived through a year defined by the climate crisis, in every corner of the world.

July 22nd was the hottest day in recorded history. 2024 will be the hottest year in recorded history.

Just this week, scientists reported that the Arctic tundra is now releasing more carbon into the atmosphere than it is absorbing.

The consequences of living on a rapidly warming planet are all around us…and not just in collapsing coral reefs and melting ice sheets…but in people’s lives.

This summer, the city of Phoenix experienced more than 113 straight days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

This fall, Hurricanes Helene and Milton slammed into the southeastern United States, killing hundreds and cutting off power and water in communities for weeks.

The worst drought in decades in southern Africa is putting 20 million children at risk of malnutrition and even starvation.

Wildfires and drought are ravaging the Amazon and the Pantanal, destroying Indigenous communities and burning up an area the size of Switzerland. I saw the impacts myself when I flew over the Brazilian Amazon with the President last month.

In September, supercharged Typhoon Yagi killed hundreds and caused $16 billion in damages from the Philippines to Myanmar.

Catastrophic floods in Spain poured a year’s worth of rain in a single day in October.

When all of these disasters are happening more frequently and with more intensity, we know something is terribly wrong with our planet. 

It’s the climate crisis. It’s caused by humans. And it’s very real—and the scientific community has been telling us so for more than fifty years.

Now is the moment when we have to go big and move forward on climate action—not backward.

But starting next month, we will again have a President whose relationship to climate change is captured by the words “hoax” and “drill baby drill.”

For those of us dedicated to climate action, the result of the U.S. election is obviously bitterly disappointing.

But while the United States federal government under Donald Trump may put climate action on the back burner, the work to build a clean energy economy and protect our planet is going to continue in our country with commitment and passion and belief.

The historic climate investments that President Biden and Vice President Harris have made over the past four years have a long tail…and will continue to make an impact on emissions and people’s lives for years to come.

At the center of their agenda is the Inflation Reduction Act, which made the largest investment in climate and clean energy in not only the history of the United States—but the history of the world.

More than two years after the law passed, we’ve largely implemented it.

Last week, we announced that federal agencies have now awarded more than $100 billion through the IRA—nearly 90 percent of the funding available to spend.

Even more importantly, the law has been government-enabled but private-sector led.

Treasury Department guidance is available on 21 out of 24 IRA tax credit provisions…which has provided clarity and certainty to the clean energy industry and unleashed a manufacturing and deployment boom.

And we will finalize guidance on clean hydrogen and the new technology-neutral clean electricity generation credits later this month.

Since President Biden took office, companies have announced about $450 billion in new clean energy investments.

We’ve seen more than 400,000 clean energy jobs created in that time.

And these projects will continue getting built and bringing new economic opportunity to communities of all stripes.

In fact, all of this economic activity has turned the Inflation Reduction Act from a law that no Republican voted for…to something that a growing number of Republicans are now defending.

According to Climate Power, 57 percent of the new clean energy jobs created since the Inflation Reduction Act passed are located in Congressional districts represented by Republicans.

Those jobs come from new clean energy projects totaling $286 billion in investment.

Republican governors, especially, know what that investment means for their constituents.

And earlier this year, 18 House Republicans wrote a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson urging him not to repeal the IRA’s energy tax credits.

The letter says, “a full repeal would create a worst-case scenario where we would have spent billions of taxpayer dollars and received next to nothing in return.”

It’s precisely because the IRA has staying power that I am confident that the United States will continue to reduce emissions – benefitting our own country and benefitting the world.

The economics of the clean energy transition have simply taken over.

New power generation is going to be clean.

The desire to build out next generation nuclear is still there and growing stronger.

Farmers and ranchers are reducing emissions and raising their incomes through more efficient and biologic fertilizers, biodigesters, and feed additives.

The hyperscalers are still committed to powering the future with clean energy, including safe, reliable nuclear energy.

The auto companies are still investing in electrification and hybridization.

All those trends are not going to be reversed.

Are we facing new headwinds? Absolutely.

But will we revert back to the energy system of the 1950s? No way.

As I’ve said before, this is not the end of our fight for a cleaner, safer planet—far from it.

This fight is bigger than one election, one political cycle, in one country.

Facts are still facts. Science is still science.

And that science is no doubt going to be under attack.

We need to work together to protect the scientific process…to ensure that scientists have the independence they need to maintain the highest degree of integrity…and to communicate that investing in fundamental research boosts America’s competitiveness and security.

AGU has a huge role to play in advocating for these protections and being a global beacon for scientific integrity and collaboration.

We’re counting on you—the world’s scientists—to keep telling us the truth about what’s happening to our planet and our communities.

Over the next four years, the impacts of climate change will only multiply.

Public awareness and public concern about this problem will only expand.

And the urgency to increase public and private investment in clean technologies will only grow.

Every single one of you has the agency to keep doing your work.

To make the connection to the climate crisis crystal clear.

And to communicate your findings to the public without fear or hesitation…not only here in the U.S. but around the world…because climate change transcends borders and so should climate science.

The American people, and the entire world, will need your talents and expertise to guide them through the next four years and then the next forty.

We owe all of you—and the entire scientific community—a debt of gratitude for the work you’ve already done…and the work you will continue to do.

And know that so many Americans…and the majority of people around the world…are going to have your back while you’re doing it.

A better future is still possible…one where every child breathes clean air and drinks clean water…one where every community benefits from growing, clean industries of the future…one where our kids and grandkids get to experience Earth’s natural beauty like we have.

We can still create that future…as long as we stay focused on it…as long as we work together…and as long as we hold our heads high while we’re doing it.

So let’s make it happen.

Thank you.

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