Statement of Senator Joseph Lieberman
U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
Hearing on Economic and Environmental Risks Associated
with Increasing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
I
thank Chairman Jeffords for calling this important hearing on the economic and
environmental risks associated with increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and
thank him for his leadership on this issue. The issues are timely, they are
important, and the witnesses are impressive.
I am sorry that I could not personally attend; I had a conflicting duty
to chair a hearing of the Governmental Affairs Committee. I want to leave no doubt about the
importance of this hearing.
The
causes and potential effects of global warming have been well documented
through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an international process
that is engaged in by over two thousand scientists from around the world. The potential effects are serious and
far-reaching.
Global
warming is a global problem that requires a global solution. The international community has come
together under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change to address the problem.
The original 1992 agreement, signed by then-President Bush and
unanimously ratified by the U.S. Senate, contained no mandatory targets or
timetables for greenhouse gas emissions.
It was important, however, for recognizing the problem and committing
the countries of the world to an ongoing multilateral process to seek ways to
reduce the threat of global warming. In
1997, the international community negotiated the Kyoto Protocol, which included
binding targets and timetables for industrialized countries to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by a little over 5% by 2008-2012, as a first step in
reducing global emissions of greenhouse gases.
The United States committed to a 7% reduction. Other countries, including the European Union and Japan, are
moving toward ratification of this agreement.
The current administration has rejected the Kyoto Protocol and offered
us what can best be described as a tepid response to what even the President
describes is a very serous issue.
The
United States has a large stake in the climate change debate; among other
things, we have a very large land mass, with thousands of miles of coastline,
and a very large population, magnifying the health threats associated with
climate change. We also emit about 25%
of the entire world’s emissions of carbon dioxide, the most prevalent
greenhouse gas, even though we have less than 5% of the world’s
population. We have a responsibility to
ourselves as well as the world community to take action to reduce greenhouse
gases. We led the international effort
to protect the stratospheric ozone layer, and found a way to bridge differences
between developed and developing countries.
That system is working and we should be proud of the leadership the
United States exhibited.
I
fear we have now abdicated our leadership role. In 1989, then-President Bush, talking to Congress about the issue
of acid rain declared that the “time for study alone is over... the time for
action is now.” The President then went
on to work with the Congress to establish a market-based cap and trade program
that significantly reduced emissions of sulfur dioxide, the main ingredient of
acid rain. I would suggest that the
current administration follow this example for carbon dioxide. I have been working with Chairman Jeffords
and other progressive-minded Senators to move toward passage of S. 556, the
Clean Power Act of 2001, which would set limits on carbon dioxide emissions
from electric power plants, which are responsible for about 40% of U.S. carbon
dioxide emissions. We have been working
with colleagues from the other side of the aisle on this important first step
on greenhouse gas emissions, and hope that we can reach an agreement to move
forward. I am also working with Senator
McCain to develop an economy wide cap and trade proposal for greenhouse gas
emissions as one more step in re-establishing U.S. leadership in this critical
area. As our distinguished witness Dr.
Rowland, a Nobel laureate wrote in his testimony: “The increasing global
temperatures will have many consequences, often adverse in the long run. Because of the many causes of this
temperature increase have their origins in the activities of mankind, actions
can and should now be taken which will slow this rate of increase.”
Thank
you Mr. Chairman, that concludes my opening statement.