[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 79 (Friday, June 8, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6000-S6004]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGY AND TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION ACT OF 2001

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, this past weekend I noted an article in the 
Washington Post that led with these lines:

       Administration officials preparing an alternative to the 
     1997 global warming agreement that President Bush disavowed 
     in March are focusing on voluntary measures for reducing 
     greenhouse gas emissions--an approach unacceptable to most 
     U.S. allies in Europe and Japan.

  Mr. President, last month, I came to this floor to urge the Bush 
administration not to abandon the progress of the multiyear 
international negotiations on global climate change. In particular, I 
urged this administration not to endanger many of the gains that the 
United States has made in recent years as it has tried to forge a 
workable, responsible international climate change agreement. So I 
welcome the subsequent announcement by administration officials that 
they intend to participate in talks on the Kyoto Protocol scheduled to 
take place in Bonn, Germany, in July. But an insistence on the part of 
the United States strictly on voluntary measures would certainly place 
in jeopardy such gains and would, I believe, undermine the credibility 
of our Nation at the bargaining table in the future. I cannot agree 
with a strategy that abandons consideration of binding commitments in 
favor of voluntary efforts alone.
  I stand here as the chief author of Senate Resolution 98 in 1997, the 
measure that many on both sides of the debate paint as a fatal blow to 
ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. I beg to differ with that 
depiction. S. Res. 98, in 1997, was the voice of the Senate, the vox 
populi, the voice of the people through their elected Representatives, 
providing guidance to the previous administration--the administration 
at that time--as its negotiators labored to hammer out a climate change 
proposal among various international players. That resolution, which 
passed by a vote of 95-0, simply stated that any international treaty 
on climate change must include binding commitments by the developing 
nations, especially the largest emitters, and also that it must not 
result in serious harm to the U.S. economy.

  It also called upon the administration to inform the legislative 
branch, which under the Constitution of the United States is required 
to approve the ratification of treaties, as to the estimated costs of 
commitments by the United States. We want to know what these will cost. 
And to date, that information has not been forthcoming. That is what we 
were saying. Tell us what it will cost. Don't sign it; don't sign that 
protocol until the major emitters among the developing nations of the 
world have also signed on and have come into the boat with us. They 
need to sign on with respect to restricting the emissions of greenhouse 
gases. It must not be the United States alone; it must not be the 
United States and the developed nations, the industrial nations, alone. 
We all have a responsibility.

[[Page S6001]]

  So we said we want the developing nations to get into the same boat 
with us because they are going to be impacted by the pollution that is 
emitted into the air, into the atmosphere, because it circles the 
globe. We are not saying they have to sign up for precisely the same 
limits we place on ourselves, or to that same degree, but they do need 
to sign on and get into this boat. Also, we want to know what it is 
going to cost and what kind of an impact it is going to have on U.S. 
industries. We don't want our industries to go overseas as a result of 
an unwise signing of the protocol that would require us to continue to 
strongly limit ourselves in ways that would encourage manufacturers in 
this country to go abroad and to establish themselves in the developing 
countries. Let's all get into the same boat together. There must be a 
level field insofar as our industries are concerned. Let's don't drive 
American industries overseas.
  It is a little like smoking a cigar in a room. I used to smoke 
cigars. I smoked for 35 years. I gave up the habit. I said, ``I am 
quitting.'' The point is that, even though I might have been the only 
person in the room holding a lighted cigar in my hand, everybody else 
in the room was inhaling the fragrance of that cigar. And it is the 
same way with greenhouse gases. They do circle the globe. Everybody 
breathes the same air, not only the emitters, but also those who are 
not the emitters.

  Had the Senate merely sat on its hands in that instance and allowed 
an untenable treaty to be submitted for approval, it would have been 
rejected. That would have been the fatal blow.
  The effect of that Senate resolution was not to kill the 
negotiations--that was not my desire to kill the negotiations--but to 
help shape them, to strengthen the hand of our negotiators as they 
tried to reach an agreement that would be acceptable to the American 
people. No treaty of such magnitude stands any real chance of success 
in this Nation without the backing of the American people. Our friends 
in foreign nations surely understand that.
  There are also some who do not believe the proliferation of 
scientific reports that have been produced in recent years concerning 
climate change. But the body of evidence tells us that something is 
occurring in our atmosphere at a proportion that is changing our 
climate and that the human hand has played a role in affecting that 
change.
  ``I have lived a long time'', as Benjamin Franklin said when he stood 
before the Constitutional Convention, ``and the longer I live, the more 
convincing proof I see that God still governs in the affairs of men.'' 
And so the longer I live, I see that also.
  One of the ``affairs of men'' that I see changing is the atmosphere, 
the circumstances in which we live every day and every night. As one 
who has lived more than 83\1/2\ years, I have seen some changes taking 
place out there in the cosmos and around the globe.
  I cannot explain those changes. I am not a scientist. But I know that 
the changes are taking place. The storms are more violent. The storms 
are more frequent today than they were when I was a lad walking the 
hills of Wolf Creek in Mercer County, West Virginia. The floods are 
more frequent. The droughts are more severe, with far more costly 
results and more often. The forest fires are more frequent, more 
costly.
  The winters have changed. No longer do I experience the snows that I 
experienced as a boy in southern West Virginia in the mountains and 
hills. There is still a great deal of snow there, but not like it was 
50 years ago, 60 years ago, 70 years ago.
  The rains are not as they were. There is something going on out 
there. The ice masses at the two poles to the north and to the south 
are diminishing. They are melting. As they melt, conditions change 
around the globe. The waters of the seas grow higher. There is 
something going on out there--I know, and I am concerned about it.
  We can waste valuable time debating and quibbling over measurements, 
methodology, findings, and conclusions, or we can accept the simple 
reality that is right before our eyes--we feel it, we see it, we hear 
it, we read about it, we appropriate more moneys because of it--the 
reality that global warming is occurring.
  Today, Mr. President, I am introducing the Climate Change Strategy 
and Technology Innovation Act of 2001. Senator Ted Stevens, the senior 
Senator from Alaska, a State that is almost halfway across the globe 
from where we stand today, has agreed to join me in this effort. This 
legislation calls for a comprehensive strategy underpinned by credible 
science and economics that will guide U.S. efforts to address the 
multifaceted problem of global climate change. This legislation also 
establishes a major research and development effort intended to develop 
the bold breakthrough technologies that our country will need to 
address the challenge of climate change.
  This legislation is intended to supplement, rather than replace, 
other complementary proposals to deal with climate change in the near 
term on both a national and international level. I also note that this 
bill is technology neutral. This is not a bill to carve out special 
benefits for coal or oil or gas or, for that matter, for nuclear, 
renewables, or any other energy resource or technology. This 
legislation provides the framework for addressing the climate 
challenge, reaffirms the ultimate goal of stabilizing atmospheric 
greenhouse gas concentrations, and leaves the technology decisions to 
energy experts and the marketplace.
  An understanding as to why this legislation is necessary must begin 
with an understanding of the fundamental causes of global climate 
change. It is virtually indisputable that atmospheric concentrations of 
carbon dioxide, CO2, are rising and that mankind is 
contributing to this rise.
  CO2 has never changed. Like H2O, it never 
changes. H2O, two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen 
constitute water. Water was the same in the beginning when Adam and Eve 
strolled the paths of that Earthly paradise. Water was H2O, 
and carbon dioxide was the same, CO2. Neither has changed. 
There are some things that do not change. That is the reason why I say 
history repeats itself. Human nature does not change. Cain slew Abel in 
the heat of a sudden rage, and men are still slaying one another.
  These rising concentrations drive global climate change, and they are 
growing as a result of increasing emissions of greenhouse gases. I 
don't believe I need a scientist to tell me something is going on 
there. Disturbingly, most greenhouse gases have a very long life span 
in the atmosphere, ranging from decades to hundreds of years. This 
means that what is emitted today is added to what was emitted in the 
20th century. For example, much of the CO2, much of the 
carbon dioxide, emitted during the Second World War is still with us 
today, and, with each passing year, the concentration is projected to 
grow to ever-higher levels. So, even if it were possible to stop 
emitting greenhouse gases today, that would amount to a very small chip 
in an iceberg of a problem.
  It is also important to note that as the concentrations of 
CO2 grow, the economic impact of the problem significantly 
increases. This is an extremely important point, because if we wait 
until every last bit of uncertainty is resolved, it may well be too 
late to prevent adverse consequences to the climate system, and it will 
be very difficult, if not impossible, to take cost-effective action.
  Conversely, taking action can be costly. Fossil fuels, such as coal, 
which emit carbon dioxide are the heart of our economic engine. Thus, 
as our economy grows, we use more fossil fuels. The President came into 
West Virginia in the election and advocated spending $2 billion, I 
believe, on clean coal technology. You are looking at the daddy of 
clean coal technology. I started that in 1985 with the authorization of 
$750 million. So I welcome the President's support of clean coal 
technology.
  But there is another side to that coin. I said to the President, I 
hear they may provide for the costs of additional clean coal technology 
research by taking it out of fossil fuel research. Please don't do 
that. That would be robbing Peter to pay Paul.
  Yet, that is exactly what happened. The President's budget provides 
that some of the moneys in fossil fuels research--which means coal, 
oil, and gas--will be redirected. ``Redirected'' is the word--that is 
the key word--redirected to clean coal technology. We are

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going to change that, however, and put those moneys back into fossil 
fuel research. As our economy grows, we use more fossil fuel. Stopping 
those emissions, even just limiting those emissions, can have the 
effect of putting the breaks on a purring economy. And that is not just 
true of the United States, but of other nations as well, particularly 
in developing nations where economic growth is steep.

  In order to solve the problem, we must develop new and cleaner 
technologies to burn fossil fuels as well as new methods to capture and 
sequester greenhouse gases, and we must develop renewable technology 
that is practical and cost-effective. Such an effort will require 
visionary leadership. Where there is no vision, the people perish. We 
need, therefore, to muster the strength and the political courage to 
tackle the climate change challenge in innovative ways.
  So the legislation I offer today, cosponsored by my friend, the 
erstwhile chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the 
distinguished senior Senator from Alaska, Mr. Stevens, calls for the 
creation of a national strategy to define how we can meet these 
objectives, and it organizes national research efforts and authorizes 
funding to accomplish these goals.
  Moreover, the legislation would establish a regime of responsibility 
and accountability in the Federal sector for the development of a 
national climate change response strategy. The strategy includes four 
key elements that collectively represent a new paradigm to deal with 
climate change.

  The first element defines a range of emission mitigation targets and 
implementation dates to achieve stabilization of greenhouse gas 
concentrations in the atmosphere at a level and at a rate that would 
prevent dangerous interference with the climate system. The strategy 
would also evaluate how each of the range of targets could achieve 
reductions in an economically and environmentally sound manner.
  The second element calls for substantially increased private- and 
public-sector investment in bold, innovative energy technologies.
  The third element calls for greater research to understand how we may 
have already altered the climate and how we can adapt to these changes 
in the future. It would help us understand, for example, how the 
changing climate may be affecting farming, in Illinois, farming in 
Florida, farming on the verdant hills of West Virginia--where there 
might be flooding or drought and how we could best address it.
  The fourth element in the paradigm calls for continuing research on 
the science of climate change to resolve the remaining uncertainties.
  To carry out this strategy, this legislation provides for the 
creation of an administrative structure within the Federal government 
to accomplish these elements. It creates an office in the White House 
to coordinate and implement the strategy, and a new office in the 
Department of Energy that will work on long-term research and 
development of a type that is not pursued in more conventional research 
and development programs. The DOE office will focus on breakthrough 
technological solutions and work in cooperation with existing basic 
science and applied technology programs to bring an increased focus to 
the climate change problem. To ensure that these goals are achieved, 
this bill creates an independent review board that will report to the 
Congress. Finally, the bill authorizes appropriations for these goals.
  This is the greatest nation in the world, the greatest nation the 
world has ever seen. It is the greatest nation when it comes to putting 
our talents to the task of advancing revolutionary change. I am 
confident that the United States possesses the talent, the wisdom, the 
drive, and the courage to lead a global solution to the climate change 
challenge that we in Congress and those in the executive branch can 
rise to meet this challenge. It will task our courage, it will task our 
energy, it will task our determination, our foresight, and certainly 
our vision. We not only have the opportunity here, but we also have the 
responsibility to act now on behalf of those who live today, but even 
more important, on behalf of those of the unborn who are not even yet 
knocking at the gates. We hold their future in our hands, and we should 
understand that. We cannot wait until my children or my grandchildren 
are standing in these Chambers, standing in the offices of power in 
Washington or elsewhere. The responsibility is right in our hands now 
and the future is right in our faces.

  I am sure these are matters that will be of some controversy, but we 
must pause to think of those of our forefathers who responded to the 
needs of the hour when it was their time to act on behalf of their 
generation and their children. The responsibility is heavy, but it must 
be met.
  I take this opportunity to thank Senator Stevens for his support, for 
his cosponsorship, and for the very great strength which he will add to 
the effort. It will be a continuing effort. It is going to take a long 
time. It is a big, big problem, but we can't avoid it because of its 
bigness. We have to meet it.
  Mr. President, I will welcome, as well as Mr. Stevens, any cosponsors 
who wish to add their names to this legislation.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Akaka). The Senator from Florida, Mr. Bill 
Nelson, is recognized.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I have been spellbound by the 
remarks of the distinguished Senator from West Virginia, addressing a 
problem facing planet Earth that all too often we have ignored. Yet as 
he so cogently has expressed, indeed, it is a problem. There is 
something happening out there.
  It has been my concern that the present administration, for whatever 
reason, has chosen not to approach addressing the issue of global 
climate change through the Kyoto accords. And because the 
administration has so decided, it is all the more important for leaders 
such as Senator Byrd and Senator Stevens to speak out on a phenomenon 
that, in fact, is occurring.
  The scientific community is fairly unanimous. It is not totally 
unanimous. Because of that, that is used as an excuse for others to say 
that global warming is not upon us. That counters all of the scientific 
evidence and the testimony of a vast majority of the scientific 
community that it has happened.
  We also know that there is, in fact, a correlation, as the 
distinguished Senator from West Virginia has stated, between the 
production of CO2 into the atmosphere and global warming. I 
commend the Senator from West Virginia for offering this legislation to 
try to get the Nation's mind focused on the problem and a comprehensive 
effort of trying to determine what we are going to do about it before 
it is too late.
  In my previous governmental capacity, in the position of Insurance 
Commissioner of the State of Florida, I tried to sound the alarm bell, 
and it was very difficult to get people to pay attention, especially 
insurance companies that would have a great deal to lose because global 
warming will cause the rise of the seas. When you come from a State 
such as mine, that has enormous implications since most of our 16 
million population is along the coast of Florida. The increase of 
global temperature will also cause the intensity of storms to increase, 
as well as their frequency.

  Florida is a land that we call paradise, but it happens to be a 
peninsula sticking down into the middle of something known as Hurricane 
Highway. Hurricanes are a part of our life, and global warming 
foretells, for us, an increased intensity of hurricanes and an 
increased frequency of hurricanes. That has enormous implications on 
not only our lifestyles but our economic activity--particularly in a 
State such as Florida that has so many miles exposed to water.
  Increased global warming also portends, for the entire globe, the 
increased likelihood of pestilence and disease, all of which have 
tremendous impacts on us as a nation if this phenomenon occurs.
  The Senator is so kind to stay and listen to my remarks which in 
large part are directed to him in my affection and appreciation for him 
and his comments and his legislation. But allow me to divert to the 
recesses of my memory and to my mind's eye.
  In 1986, as I looked out the window of the spacecraft Columbia, high 
above the Earth, in Earth orbit, looking back at home that suddenly, 
over the course

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of days in space, is not Florida or America but home becomes the 
planet, this beautiful blue and white ball suspended in the middle of 
nothing--and space is nothing. Space goes on and on. It is an airless 
vacuum that goes on and on for billions of light-years. There in its 
midst, suspended, is this wonderful creation called planet Earth, our 
home. As I would look at the rim of the Earth, I could see what 
sustains all of our life. I could see the atmosphere. As I would look 
further, I would start to see how we are messing it up.
  For example, in a ground track coming across South America, I could 
look out the window of the spacecraft to the west and, because of the 
color contrast, even from that altitude I could see the destruction of 
the rain forest in the upper Amazon region.
  Then, in the same window of the spacecraft, I could look to the east 
at the mouth of the Amazon River and could see the result of the 
destruction of the trees for the waters of the Atlantic which were 
discolored from the silt for hundreds of miles from the mouth of the 
Amazon. That was a result of the destruction of the trees hundreds of 
miles upriver.
  I came away from that experience becoming more of an 
environmentalist. I came away from that experience with a profound 
sense of obligation to become a better steward for our planet Earth.
  The legislation that the Senator has offered is another step in 
attempting to get this Nation and this planet to recognize that 
something is changing; that we best use the best minds, the best 
science, and the best technology to address how we can stop what seems 
to be the inevitable march of warming the temperature of this planet to 
the point at which it could cause great destruction.
  I thank the President for his recognition. I thank the Senator from 
West Virginia for his statement today and for offering this 
legislation. I thank him for his very kind indulgence to listen to my 
remarks, which are complimentary to him for what he was offered here 
today.
  Thank you, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia is recognized.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I seek recognition for only a brief 
statement.
  I thank the distinguished Senator from Florida for his observations 
today. He comes to the Senate as one who is different from the rest of 
us--different in that his experiences include that of being a former 
astronaut. My name is Byrd, B-Y-R-D. I don't have the wings of a bird. 
But I have the imagination that can fly uninhibited through the 
unlimited bounds of space.
  As the Senator from Florida spoke, I found myself traveling with him 
and looking out of the windows of his spacecraft in wonder at what has 
happened to planet Earth, the planet that we call home.
  I thank him for taking the floor today to tell us about his thoughts 
and about his experiences in that regard. I think he has opened up a 
new window of understanding--certainly, to me. I thank him.
  I look forward to hearing from Senator Nelson on future occasions and 
to working with him as we attempt to attack this growing problem. It is 
one which is going to be costly. It is going to take money. We are 
severely limited at this time. But I welcome his remarks and always in 
association with my own.
  Mr. President, I send to the desk the bill and ask for its referral.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill will be appropriately referred.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the Climate Change Strategy and 
Technology Innovation Act of 2001 asks for a commitment of the 107th 
Congress to Develop bold, innovative technologies to better understand 
global climate change. I thank my friend Senator Byrd for introducing 
this Bill and I am proud to be an original co-sponsor.
  On May 29, I chaired an Appropriations Committee field hearing in 
Fairbanks, AK on the impact of global climate change on the arctic 
environment. Witnesses included Dan Goldin, the Head of the National 
Aeronautic and Space Administration; Scott Gudes, the acting head of 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Dr. Rita Colwell, 
the Director of the National Science Foundation, Charles Groat, the 
Director of the U.S. Geological Survey; and experts from the 
International Arctic Research Center and the University of Alaska's 
Geophysical Institute. Many of the Witnesses noted that recent climate 
change activity likely stems from a number of factors, including 
natural variances and human activity.
  The degree to which any particular phenomenon or activity is 
contributing to climate change is not well understood. However, 
regardless of cause, there has been a dramatic warming trend in the 
arctic areas of Alaska. Pack ice that usually insulates our coastal 
villages from winter storms has shrunk by 3 percent a year since the 
1970's. Increased storm activity has caused significant beach erosion 
that may displace entire communities. Sea ice is also thinner than it 
was 30 years ago. The northwest passage has been ice free for the last 
three years. Forests appear to moving farther north and west as the 
permafrost melts. We need better research capabilities to understand 
global climate change, better planning capabilities to react to climate 
change impact, and better energy technology infrastructure to keep pace 
with America's growing energy needs.
  Senator Byrd's bill will create a process for the United States to 
seriously and responsibly address the climate change issue. I look 
forward to working closely with him to pass this important legislation.
  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to applaud the leadership 
shown by Senator Byrd and Senator Stevens with their introduction of 
the Climate Change Strategy and Technology Innovation Act of 2001. 
Senator Byrd has shown great courage by taking action to address global 
warming in such a forthright and courageous manner. As Livy once wrote 
of the great general Hannibal, Senator Byrd is preferred ``in any 
action which called for vigor and courage, and under his leadership the 
men''--or in this case his colleagues in the Senate--``invariably 
showed the best advantage of both dash and confidence.'' Senator Byrd's 
vigor and wisdom in introducing this bill are on historic parallel with 
the acts of Hannibal.
  I have been informed that the bill will likely be referred to the 
Government Affairs Committee, and as chairman of that committee, I look 
forward to reviewing it in detail. As I understand it, this legislation 
will create an aggressive comprehensive effort within the executive 
branch that will provide the scrutiny and creative thought that global 
warming requires. I hope that it will be the tree off of which other 
climate change measures will branch. As Senator Byrd has said, it is 
meant to complement, not replace, other mitigation measures--measures 
that must include binding targets for emissions reductions.
  The timing for the introduction of this bill could not be better. On 
Wednesday, the National Academy of Sciences released their latest 
report on climate change at the request of the White House. The White 
House asked the questions, and the answer was clear: global warming is 
``real,'' is caused by human activity, and has potentially disastrous 
consequences. Now, as President Bush prepares to go to Europe next 
week, he must heed these disturbing findings and propose meaningful, 
binding measures to address climate change.
  The mandate is clear, we must take action and take action now to stop 
the overheating of our planet. We must be aggressive and we must be 
creative. We must harness one of our great American traditions, which 
is an unparalleled capacity for innovation, and lead the world in doing 
so. We must use flexible market structures in order to allow that 
innovation to flourish, we must set the strict caps on emissions that 
are necessary to drive that innovation.
  As I understand their bill, Senators Stevens and Byrd have laid out a 
program that will provide the framework for the United States to 
address the dire problem of climate change. We must accept this 
challenge and begin to take serious measures to reverse this troubling 
trend, or future generations will suffer the consequences and remember 
us with disappointment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada is recognized.

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