Speeches & Statements
Committee on the Environment and Public Works: Testimony
President Richard C. Levin
April 3, 2008
Thank you Chairwoman Boxer, Ranking Member Inhofe, and members of the Committee for this opportunity to discuss Yale’s efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and advance sustainable development.
Let me begin by noting that there is no longer any doubt that we have a problem. The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded last year that the evidence of global warming is “unequivocal.” 1 The Panel, consisting of 2500 leading climate scientists from around the world, determined with “very high confidence that the net effect of human activities since 1750 has been one of warming.”2 And it concluded that “most of the observed increase in globally-averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic GHG [greenhouse gas] concentrations.”3 The Panel concluded that, in the absence of corrective measures, global temperatures are likely to rise between 1 and 6 degrees centigrade by the end of this century, with the best estimates ranging between 2 and 4 degrees. Even a 1-degree increase in temperature will limit fresh water availability and cause coastal flooding in much of the world, but, as the Panel noted, economic, social, and environmental damages and dislocation will become much more consequential if global temperatures increase by more than 2 degrees.
Full audio of the testimony is available from the EPW web site.
To read the full text of the testimony download the accompanying PDF file.
1 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Fourth Assessment Report:
Synthesis Report Summary for Policymakers, 2007, p.1
