Lieberman Calls on Bush to Establish White
House Climate Change Effort
‘Watershed’ Hearing Targets
Global Warming
July 18, 2001
WASHINGTON - Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe
Lieberman (D-Conn.) today called on President Bush to support
legislation aimed at combating the growing threat posed by
global warming.
"Climate change is one of the most critical issues
facing our country– and our planet-- and the President has
walked away from the only agreement we had to address it without
any viable alternative," Lieberman said at Wednesday’s
hearing on climate change.
Lieberman stressed the need for the United States to take a
leadership role in addressing climate change and praised
legislation sponsored by Senators Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.) and Ted
Stevens (R-Alaska) as an important first step.
Specifically, the Committee heard from scientists and
representatives from industry and the environmental community on
the Climate Change Strategy and Technology Innovation Act of
2001 (S.1008), introduced Byrd and Stevens in June. The
legislation would complement current climate change proposals by
creating a White House office responsible for crafting a
national climate change response strategy. Additionally, the
bill would aggressively promote research and development of
innovative technologies for the long-term stabilization of
greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere by establishing
a new Office of Carbon Management within the Department of
Energy.
Lieberman also agreed with Senator Byrd’s statement that
this initiative "is intended to supplement, rather replace,
other complementary proposals to deal with climate change."
Specifically, Lieberman supports firm targets and timetables on
emissions reduction to drive innovation.
"Today we clearly broke new ground," Lieberman
said. "In my view, for the first time genuine consensus was
reached on an approach to addressing domestic emissions of
greenhouse gases, which cause global warming. It seems we can
all agree on the need to develop a national strategy and to
coordinate the activities of various government agencies and
departments that are carrying out work in this area."
"Even if we disagree on the potential impact of
global climate change and the specifics of a response,"
Lieberman said, "the legislation put forward by Senators
Byrd and Stevens creates common ground we can all occupy and
from which we can move forward together. Achieving a bipartisan
consensus on this legislation can, I believe, be an important
turning point in America's reaction to global climate
change."
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