[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 7099-7102]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               EARTH DAY

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, there is a lot going on in the world today. 
We have the conflict in Kosovo. We have, as the Senator from Oregon 
pointed out, the calamity that has taken place in the State of 
Colorado, dealing with the death of 16 children, or maybe even more.
  In spite of these very dramatic events taking place around the world, 
I think it is appropriate that we pause and reflect on one of the most 
important days we have each year, and that is Earth Day, which is 
tomorrow.
  As we know, tomorrow will be the culminating day of this week 
legislatively because of the events that will take place with the 50th 
anniversary of NATO. So tomorrow we will be unable to celebrate Earth 
Day here in the Senate. So Senator Boxer and I felt it was appropriate 
that we spend some time with some of our colleagues talking about Earth 
Day and the importance of Earth Day.
  There are a number of ways we can celebrate Earth Day, but I think 
there is no way that is more appropriate than talking about one of the 
things which sets the United States apart from any other nation, and 
that is our great National Park System. We are the envy of the rest of 
the world. When people talk about successes in Government, I think they 
must reflect upon our National Park System.
  We have 54 national parks in the United States. In addition to that, 
we have a number of other entities within our National Park System that 
are important. But today I want to talk about our national parks.
  We are very fortunate in Nevada; we have one of the 54 national 
parks. It is a unique setting. The Great Basin National Park is the 
baby of our National Park System. There is only one national park that 
is newer than the Great Basin National Park. And we are so happy to 
have the Great Basin National Park. It was 60 years in its coming.
  I can remember when I introduced legislation to have this beautiful 
facility become a national park. This chart shows part of our national 
park. It is Wheeler Peak, which is about 13,000 feet high. You can see 
the majesty of this great mountain.
  When I introduced this legislation, President Reagan was President of 
the United States. There were times that were very partisan then, as 
now, and the Secretary of Agriculture was asking the President to veto 
the creation of the national park.
  I called in the Director of the National Park System, William Penn 
Mott, and I said, I am really worried that the President is going to 
veto the legislation creating this national park. He looked at me and 
said, There is no way President Reagan is going to veto this national 
park. He said, I have been with President Reagan; I worked with him 
when he was Governor of the State of California, and he has assigned me 
to be the superintendent of the parks for our country. He said, It was 
in the 1930s when I was a park ranger that I was called upon by Senator 
Key Pittman, a Senator from Nevada, to travel to Nevada to find a 
location for a national park. I went there, and I found that location. 
It is this exact spot that you have chosen to designate as a national 
park.
  And he said, for political reasons, it has never come to reality. He 
said that possibility is now, and there is no way that President Reagan 
would veto the creation of this gem that we have in the State of 
Nevada.
  He was right. The President gladly signed the bill, and we now have 
as part of our National Park System the Great Basin National Park. We 
could pick any one of the 54 units in our National Park System, and I 
am sure people from those States would be just as proud of that park as 
I am of the Great Basin National Park. This park has Wheeler Peak, 
which I show you here, but in addition to that, we have in the Great 
Basin National Park the only glacier in the State of Nevada.
  In addition to that, you cannot see them here, but in this park we 
have bristlecone pine trees, the oldest living things in the world, 
more than 5,000 years old. We are going to celebrate a new millennium, 
2,000 years. Well, 3,000 years before Christ was born, these trees 
started growing. That is an old tree, oldest living thing in the world 
located in this national park.
  In addition to that, we have the Lehman Caves. The Lehman Caves are 
interesting because they were discovered unintentionally by a cowboy 
out doing whatever cowboys do. Suddenly he finds he and his horse have 
dropped into this subterranean cavern that became the Lehman Caves, 
which has been visited by hundreds of thousands of people over the 
years.
  I am very proud of our National Park System. I am proud of the Great 
Basin National Park. Senator Graham and I introduced legislation 
yesterday that will take $500 million a year from a fund that is 
already created, not new taxes, and put it into the National Park 
System where we are $4 billion in arrears just maintaining our national 
parks, maintaining the trails, the bathrooms, the information centers, 
the things that are so necessary to maintain this great program we have 
called our National Park System.
  Certainly as part of Earth Day, we must recognize the fact that part 
of celebrating Earth Day has to be our National Park System. One last 
thing, because I see my colleagues on the floor, we are so honored in 
the State of Nevada, Dale Antonich, who is the chief park ranger of the 
Lake Mead recreation area, which is part of our National Park System, 
was chosen as this year's recipient of the Harry Yount National Park 
Ranger Award for excellence in rangering. This is important because he 
has been chosen by his peers to be the top park ranger. This says a 
lot. We are very proud of Lake Mead. It receives about 12 million 
visitors a year. He is the chief ranger there. I am sure that people 
who come to the park, to Lake Mead, receive a good experience. I want 
to give this resident of Boulder City, NV, all the accolades that he 
deserves as being selected as the top park ranger in our country.
  As I indicated, we have set aside 30 minutes. That is all the time we 
could get today to celebrate Earth Day. I did see in the Chamber my 
friend from California. I wonder if I could get the attention of my two 
colleagues. We have 30 minutes that we have set aside to talk about the 
parks. I am wondering if I could yield time to my friend from 
California. We are very proud of Nevada, but there is no State in the 
Union that has more natural beauty than California. I think Nevada has 
as much natural beauty, but there is no State that has any more natural 
beauty than the great State of California, which is the neighboring 
State of the State of Nevada.
  I am very happy that the Senator from California, Mrs. Feinstein, is 
here to talk about some of the beauties of the State of California. I 
am sure that is what she is going to do; is that not true?
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I will speak about global warming.
  Mr. REID. Global warming is perfect. That deals with Earth Day, and 
that is why we are here to talk. How much time does the Senator need?
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Is it possible to have 10 to 15 minutes?
  Mr. REID. I am sure we have 10 minutes. I yield the Senator from 
California 10 minutes to talk about global warming and the importance 
of Earth Day.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California is recognized.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I thank the Chair, and I thank the distinguished 
Senator from Nevada.
  Mr. President, I note that the Senator from Colorado is on the floor. 
I really want to extend to him and to all of the people of Colorado my 
deepest

[[Page 7100]]

sympathy and sorrow for the events yesterday. After I finish a brief 
global warming statement, I would like to make a more inclusive 
statement about the events that took place in Colorado, but I want him 
to know that my heart and thoughts are with him and the people of 
Colorado today.
  Mr. President, as we prepare to celebrate Earth Day tomorrow, I 
wanted to speak for a few minutes about what I consider to be the 
single greatest environmental threat facing our planet: the threat of 
global warming.
  The phenomenon of global climate change really hit home for me in 
January of 1997. That year, devastating floods killed seven people and 
caused nearly $2 billion in damage in California. California is famous 
for its weather extremes, but the 1997 floods were unusual in terms of 
their ferocity, the loss of life they caused, and the tremendous 
property damage that occurred.
  Even more striking, the 1997 flood was only one of four 100-year 
floods that occurred in California in the 1990s. Therefore, it 
certainly got my attention when I read that the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Agency believes that major changes in the El Nino and La 
Nina ocean currents, which brought so much rain to California, may be 
linked to changes in the ocean's temperature.
  Last fall, I received an in-depth briefing from Dr. John Holdren, the 
Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy and Director of 
the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at Harvard 
University. Dr. Holdren presented clear and compelling evidence to me 
that global warming is real. It is happening, and it will have 
significant impacts on human health, our environment, and our economy.
  Despite the overwhelming scientific evidence, however, literally 
every week my office receives bulletins from groups that continue to 
dispute the reality of global warming. Today I would like to lay out 
the evidence that global warming is indeed occurring.
  There is overwhelming scientific consensus about the following facts: 
The natural greenhouse effect (which is primarily a product of water 
vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane) makes the earth habitable, keeping 
the average surface temperature about 33 degrees Celsius warmer than it 
would otherwise be.
  Large increases in greenhouse gas concentrations resulting from human 
activities produce significant further global warming, accompanied by 
other changes in climatic patterns.
  Today's atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is about 30 percent 
higher than pre-industrial levels. The methane concentration is over 
100 percent higher. These levels are higher than at any time in the 
last 160,000 years.
  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an assembly of 2,000 
of the world's leading experts on climate and related disciplines, has 
found that human activities are increasing the greenhouse effect, and 
therefore raising the temperature of the planet. It is important to 
note that the IPCC includes scientists from all member states of the 
World Meteorological Association and the United Nations.
  To quote the IPCC:

       The atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gases, and 
     among them, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, have 
     grown significantly since pre-industrial times . . . These 
     trends can be attributed largely to human activities, mostly 
     fossil fuel use, land-use change and agriculture. 
     Concentrations of other anthropogenic greenhouse gases have 
     also increased. An increase of greenhouse gas concentrations 
     leads on average to an additional warming of the atmosphere 
     and the Earth's surface. Many greenhouse gases remain in the 
     atmosphere--and affect climate--for a long time.

  The IPCC estimates that carbon dioxide concentrations in the 
atmosphere have risen from 280 parts per million before the Industrial 
Revolution, to 360 parts per million today. By the end of the next 
century, the carbon dioxide level will be somewhere between 480 and 800 
parts per million.
  According to the IPCC, this change is ``unlikely to be entirely 
natural in origin. The balance of evidence, from changes in global mean 
surface air temperature and from changes in geographical, seasonal, and 
vertical patterns of atmospheric temperature, suggest a discernible 
human influence on global climate.''
  Already, these increased greenhouse gas emissions are changing the 
earth's climate. Here are the facts:
  The average temperature of the earth has risen 1.3 degrees in the 
last 100 years.
  Ten of the warmest years on record have occurred in the last 12 
years. 1998 was the hottest year on record.
  The last 50 years appear to have been the warmest half century in 
6,000 years, according to evidence from ice core samples.
  Scientific evidence convincingly shows increased rates of evaporation 
and rainfall, glacier retreat, sea ice shrinkage, and rising sea 
levels.
  The IPCC estimates that by 2100, the earth's temperature will have 
risen by two to six degrees. This rate of warming, if it were to occur, 
would be the fastest warming rate in the last 10,000 years.
  Even if an overwhelming body of scientific evidence regarding global 
warming did not exist, the weather map alone would tell us something is 
wrong. According to the National Climatic Data Center, weather extremes 
are becoming more and more frequent: hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, 
flooding, droughts. So far this century, extreme weather events have 
increased by 20 percent. Annual precipitation is up 6 percent since 
1900, and total winter precipitation is up 8 percent.
  Just look at the period from November 1997 through July 1998, when a 
series of extreme weather events hit this nation. Northern California 
had its wettest May ever in 1998, with precipitation in at least one 
area hitting 800 percent of normal. Meanwhile, Texas suffered under a 
devastating drought, with San Antonio getting only 8 percent of its 
normal rainfall in May. In Florida last summer, the U.S. Forest Service 
estimated that 80 percent of the State was at a drought level 
equivalent to a desert. Ohio, the Upper Midwest, and New England had no 
shortage of rain, however; floods in those areas claimed 13 lives.
  While individually none of these events can be linked directly to 
global warming, collectively they show a troubling pattern consistent 
with what the best science tells us global warming will look like.
  Things could get worse. According to the IPCC, one third to one half 
of all mountain glacier mass could disappear in the next century. 
Melting glaciers, combined with melting of the antarctic ice shelves, 
could raise sea level by as much as three feet in the next 100 years. 
This could cause severe flooding in the San Francisco Bay Area, New 
Orleans, the Everglades, and the Chesapeake Bay.
  The weather changes caused by global warming also could wreak havoc 
upon the environment and human health. The University of California 
estimates that global warming could render 20 to 50 percent of the 
State's natural areas unsuitable for the current species who live 
there. Major vegetation changes are occurring over one-eighth of the 
planet. The effects of global warming on human health, including 
outbreaks of tropical diseases such as malaria and yellow fever, are so 
significant that I plan to discuss those separately in a floor 
statement soon.
  Global warming is not a problem that we can afford to ignore or 
dismiss. The scientific evidence is overwhelming and persuasive, and we 
need to take steps now to reduce global warming. That is why I am 
circulating a letter, along with Senators Gorton and Bryan, that 
encourages the President to work with Congress to implement improved 
Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency Standards. Cars and light trucks, 
including sport utility vehicles, are responsible for 20 percent of all 
carbon emissions in the United States, and emit more carbon than all 
sources in Great Britain combined.
  By raising fuel efficiency standards, we can reduce carbon dioxide 
emissions by over 240 million tons per year. This will help curb global 
warming, improve air quality, save consumers at the gas pump, and 
reduce our reliance on imported oil.
  Stronger fuel efficiency standards alone will not solve the global 
warming

[[Page 7101]]

problem, but they are a very good place to start. I am pleased to say 
that a bi-partisan group of 22 Senators have already signed the letter 
to the President, and I am hopeful that more will sign soon.
  I also urge all of my colleagues--especially those who may remain 
skeptical about the existence of global warming--to attend a briefing 
that I am hosting on May 11 with scientists from the University of 
California, including Nobel Laureate Sherwood Rowland. These scientists 
will discuss recent satellite measurements concerning global climate 
change; disturbing new evidence that climate change may be occurring 
more abruptly than scientists had earlier forecast; and possible 
solutions to the problem.
  Global warming is an extremely complicated issue, and I understand 
that a number of policy alternatives are currently on the table--from 
the Kyoto Protocol supported by President Clinton, to the ``Credit for 
Early Action'' bill sponsored by Senator Chafee, to the bill currently 
being drafted by Senator Murkowski. I do not presume to stand here 
today with a master plan for how to stop global warming.
  But I do feel strongly that global warming's existence cannot be 
disputed. It is real. It could cause the greatest environmental crisis 
of our time. I hope that we can at least recognize the threat, and 
begin working together to address it.


                      UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator 
from Colorado, Senator Campbell, be recognized on his own time, and 
that his speech not appear as part of the 30 minutes dedicated to 
Senators Boxer and Reid, and that his speech appear separate in the 
Record. After that, I tell the Chair that the final approximately 10 
minutes that is left for Senators Boxer and Reid would be given to the 
Senator from New Jersey, Mr. Lautenberg.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from New Jersey is recognized for 10 minutes.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Thank you, Mr. President.
  Mr. President, our mission this morning is to discuss the 
environment, and to celebrate the birth of Earth Day, which takes place 
tomorrow. I will use my time for that purpose.
  But I want to take just a minute, because I, like everyone else in 
this country, am heartbroken by what we saw take place yesterday. In my 
conversation with the Senator from Colorado, I expressed my sympathies. 
But I want to point out something. Those children were killed by 
deranged young people of their own class. But they used guns, and they 
used weapons that are, frankly, I think out of control in our society. 
This isn't just happening in Colorado. It is a terrible happening in 
Colorado. But look at the other days. It happened in Utah. It has 
happened in Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, Oregon, and Illinois. Just 
search your mind and you can find almost every State having had a 
problem. It is a plague in our society. It is a blight across our 
country.
  There is a bit of a paradox as we talk about Earth Day and the 
positive aspects of what Earth Day can mean so that children can bathe 
in the waters, fish in the streams, play on the Earth, and breathe the 
air--all positive things looking toward an improvement in their 
health--just under the shadow of the murderous rampage that took place 
yesterday.


                         Privilege Of The Floor

  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Lisa Haage, a detailee in 
my office, be granted the privilege of the floor for the duration of 
the 106th Congress.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise to join my colleagues to 
discuss the Democratic environmental agenda on the eve of Earth Day.
  We have an ambitious agenda to protect open spaces, reduce sprawl and 
relieve congestion.
  While Congressional Democrats have an excellent agenda for the 
future, we also have a proud history of accomplishment since the first 
Earth Day in 1970. Our nation's major environmental laws were written 
and passed under Democratic leadership.
  Democrats passed the first Clean Water Act. Democrats wrote the first 
Superfund law. Democrats authored the Clean Air Act.
  And the Clinton Administration has an impressive record of enforcing 
these laws. The EPA has an outstanding record of cleaning up toxic 
waste sites under the Superfund program.
  For example, by the end of this Fiscal Year, September 30, 95 percent 
of all Superfund sites will have remedies selected and cleanups 
beginning or underway.
  Overall, the Clinton Administration has cleaned up more Superfund 
sites in the past two years than in the first 12 years of program.
  Administrator Browner has also had success protecting our nation's 
drinking water, reducing smog so that children breathe healthier air, 
and cleaning up our lakes and rivers for swimming and fishing.
  Mr. President, today, I would specifically like to talk about my 
brownfields bill and its promise to reduce sprawl and protect our 
environment.
  My common sense brownfields bill, S. 20, will help accomplish all of 
these goals.
  My bill will help turn a contaminated, abandoned parcel of land into 
a new school, an new business or a new playing field. And the benefits 
will multiply from there. Cleaning up brownfields protects open spaces 
by keeping commercial development inside our cities, where it creates 
jobs and can lower property taxes.
  With more reuse and redevelopment in our cities, there will be less 
pressure to develop farmland and parkland outside our cities.
  How do we make this happen? By making grant money available for 
States and cities to start the redevelopment of brownfields, and using 
their own zoning codes and no Federal regulations with that so that 
they can make sure people who are interested in buying and developing 
these sites aren't sued for the contamination that was never their 
fault.
  Brownfields need not be a blight on our communities but an 
opportunity for smart growth.
  Mr. President, fortunately, brown- 
fields is not a partisan issue. In fact, many Republican Senators have 
supported the thrust of my legislation. This means, on this Earth Day, 
we have a chance to do something that will protect our environment and 
open spaces, and leave a better world for our children and 
grandchildren.
  We should not miss the opportunity to do so.
  Mr. President, we have pending before us the reauthorization of 
Superfund. It is now 2 years since the Superfund bill expired, and we 
still continue to operate. But we don't derive any of the revenues that 
were supposed to be part of the bill. We can't get a Superfund bill 
that is decent that doesn't protect the polluters, which is what 
Superfund was all about. It says, let the responsible parties pay for 
their damage. It has worked pretty well.
  I was at a site in New Jersey that was the No. 1 Superfund site in 
the country. A company there agreed, finally, to pay $100 million 
toward the restoration of this site. I was there on Saturday to 
commemorate this new development. It was a spectacular day. I was there 
with the Little League. They even let me throw out the first pitch. 
That is the only first pitch I have thrown out. I haven't been invited 
by the Yankees, or otherwise. But to be able to throw out a pitch to 
the Little League, to see a softball field next to that, a hardball, a 
regular baseball field next to that, a soccer field next to that, all 
developed out of what was a horrible toxic waste site. The lake is 
clean. Before, there were signs for the children to avoid getting too 
near the lake because there was poisonous material in there. No fish 
could live--nothing.
  When he celebrated the cleanup of that lake 2 years ago, the mayor of 
Pitman, NJ, a fellow named Bruce Ware, stood next to me, and, he said, 
``I am going to fulfill a promise that I made years ago that if this 
lake ever got

[[Page 7102]]

 cleaned up I am going in it.'' With that, he turned, fully dressed, 
with his tie and his jacket and his suit, and he jumped in the lake. He 
was so ecstatic about the fact that this community was going to be rid 
of this blighted parcel of land--about 100 acres, a big piece of land.
  It is fantastic. I believe it will result in not only more revenues 
for the community but also a lifting of the spirit in that community.
  That is what we ought to be doing. We ought not tinker with 
Superfund, to reduce it, to emasculate it such that it has no power and 
no strength.
  I hope we are going to be able to do that in the next few days. I 
hope the American people will insist that as we attempt to clean up our 
land and avoid the sprawl that we are living with that we will pay 
attention to what we have as a society in terms of an obligation to 
future generations.
  Mr. President, I thank the Chair for the opportunity to have the 
floor.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________