[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 112 (Friday, August 3, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S8887]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          U.S. PARTICIPATION IN GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, last week, 178 countries reached an 
agreement in Bonn, Germany, on implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. 
While this agreement does not settle all the details of how a ratified 
protocol might work, nearly all the signatories to that treaty hailed 
last week's agreement as a step forward in the worldwide response to 
global climate change.
  I am disappointed, however, that the United States remained on the 
sidelines of this latest round of negotiations. I urged the Bush 
administration not to abandon the negotiation process. I think that we 
have seen, in last week's agreement, proof that the rest of the world 
will not sit idly by and wait for the United States. Perhaps this is a 
good lesson for the administration to learn. America must make an 
effort, in concert with both industrialized and developing countries, 
to address the real and serious problem of global climate change.
  While I believe that the United States must remain engaged in 
multilateral talks to address the ever-increasing amounts of greenhouse 
gases that are emitted into our atmosphere, this does not mean that we 
should simply sign up to any agreement that may come down the road. The 
Senate has been very clear on the conditions under which a treaty on 
climate change may be ratified.
  Developing countries must also be included in a binding framework to 
limit their future emissions of greenhouse gases. It makes no 
difference if a greenhouse gas is released from a factory in the United 
States or a factory in China; the global effect is the same. 
Quizzically, the Kyoto Protocol, as now written, does make such 
distinctions. It ignores scientific knowledge about the global nature 
of the problem.
  The question of developing country participation was not addressed at 
the conference in Bonn. Without the United States' full engagement in 
the talks, there is no other country that can raise this issue and 
stand a chance of success. This is not meant to disparage the herculean 
efforts of some of our closest allies to improve the technical aspects 
of last week's agreement. Some of our allies made substantial 
contributions to the agreement on technical issues such as allowing the 
use of forests to absorb carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas, and 
attempting to improve the compliance mechanisms of the treaty. Those 
allies should be applauded for their efforts to craft an agreement that 
does not preclude the United States from participating in future talks, 
but even our allies would agree that the United States must return to 
the table.
  Despite the shortcomings in the agreement reached at Bonn, I see a 
window of opportunity for the United States to rejoin the multilateral 
talks on the Kyoto Protocol. It is a small window, and it is closing, 
but it is a window nonetheless. In October 2001, the next round of 
negotiations on climate change will begin in Marrakesh, Morocco. If the 
administration were to formulate a new, comprehensive, multilateral 
plan to address climate change before that conference, I believe there 
would be several factors working in our favor.
  The world agrees that any treaty on climate change will be of limited 
use unless the United States is a full participant, because we are, for 
now, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Developing countries know 
that we will be the source of much of the new technology that will 
allow them to use cleaner, more efficient forms of energy. The United 
States also has much to gain by working with other countries to secure 
``emission credits'' that will help us to reduce our greenhouse gas 
emissions in a manner that lessens the impact on our economy. Other 
countries recognize these facts, and many may be willing to hear a 
bold, new proposal from the United States that may facilitate our 
return to an improved version of the Kyoto Protocol.
  Make no doubt about it, if the United States does return to 
negotiating on the Kyoto Protocol, progress will not come easy. But in 
some respects, our role as an international leader is at stake. In 
Bonn, by remaining on the sidelines during the negotiation, the United 
States ceded its leadership because of a hasty declaration that the 
Protocol was, in the words of the President, ``fatally flawed.'' I 
continue to urge President Bush to demonstrate the indispensability of 
our leadership in the world by rejoining the negotiations on global 
climate change, and directing those negotiations toward a solution that 
encourages developing country participation and protects the health of 
our economy.
  I note that my colleagues on the Committee on Foreign Relations also 
recognize the importance of remaining engaged in these discussions. On 
Wednesday, that committee accepted, by a unanimous vote, an amendment 
to the State Department authorization bill that expounds upon the 
Senate's position on climate change. Sponsored by Senator Kerry, this 
amendment expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States 
must address climate change both domestically and internationally, and 
supports the objective of our participation in a revised Kyoto Protocol 
or other, future binding climate change agreement, that includes 
developing country participation and protects our economy. It is a wise 
and well-crafted statement, which I support fully.
  Formulating an international response to climate change is an 
ambitious goal. It is a challenge to which the United States must rise. 
I hope that when Congress returns to session in September, the 
President will have made the decision that our country must be a full 
participant in international talks on the Kyoto Protocol, and that he 
will have made progress in developing specific proposals to improve a 
multilateral treaty on climate change.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.

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