    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [October 18, 1997]
    [Pages 1399-1400]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at Nahuel Huapi National Park in San Carlos de Bariloche,
    Argentina
    October 18, 1997

        President Menem, distinguished members of the Argentine Government,
    Governor Verani, Mayor Miguel, Dr. Varotta, Director Suarez, and Colonel
    Cabana, thank you very much.
        Mr. President, let me begin by thanking you for your wonderful
    hospitality to Hillary, to me, to all of our team from the Cabinet and
    the American administration. We're very grateful to you. We are also
    grateful for our broad and deep partnership with Argentina. From
    peacekeeping missions around the globe to our cooperation in the far
    reaches of outer space, from expanding trade to extending its benefits
    to all our people, from the peaceful use of nuclear power to the fight
    against terrorism, over the last 2 days we have worked hard to deepen
    our cooperation to benefit all of our people.
        For the children in this audience, our partnership to protect the
    environment of our nations and the entire globe is perhaps the most
    important part of what we must do together.
        Eighty-four years ago this month, two visionaries of the Americas
    arrived together in this place where nature and civilization meet. One
    was Theodore Roosevelt. No American President had spent more time
    thinking about the New World as a community of democracies; no American
    President had done more to preserve and protect our natural environment.
    His traveling companion was Perito Moreno, the man who founded this
    magnificent domain, Nahuel Huapi National Park, a remarkable gift to
    future generations.
        Mr. President, it is up to us now to act with the foresight and in
    the spirit of Roosevelt and Moreno in dealing with today's great
    environmental challenges: how to bring the blessings of global growth to
    all nations and still protect not just our national environments but the
    planet itself.
        One of our severest challenges clearly is climate change. The
    evidence is compelling that increasing emissions of greenhouse gases are
    leading to the warming of our planet and that global warming could lead
    to profound and destructive changes in the way we lead our lives. Among
    the consequences will be the more rapid spread of diseases, the rising
    of the oceans, flooding lowlands on various continents and islands in
    the oceans, and more frequent and severe weather events in all
    continents, including more severe droughts and floods.
        Five years ago, the nations of the world began to address this
    challenge at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. This December, when
    more than 150 nations gather in Kyoto, Japan, we can make, and we must
    make, more progress toward a solution. Our goal must be to set realistic
    and binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions and then to create a
    blueprint to guide us for the future.
        In meeting the challenge of climate change, clearly the United
    States and the rest of the developed world must lead. For today,
    industrialized nations produce most of the greenhouse gases that go into
    our atmosphere. But emissions from the developing world are expected to
    grow dramatically. Forty years from now, they will exceed those of
    developed countries. Since the issue is how to stabilize and reduce
    greenhouse gases in the entire atmosphere, this is clearly a global
    problem in which we must all do our share.

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        I applaud the leadership of President Menem in Argentina in
    affirming today that developing as well as developed nations should have
    emissions targets. And we have agreed to pursue joint implementation, an
    important tool that will allow the United States and Argentine
    businesses to adopt the most cost-effective emissions reductions. We
    have seen clearly in the United States over and over again that we solve
    our environmental problems more quickly when we work together with
    technology and markets through the private sector.
        I want to make it clear that the strategy we embrace today does not
    ask developing nations to sacrifice the legitimate aspirations of their
    people for economic growth. Instead, it offers an important opening to
    chart a new energy course that is consistent with growth but makes sure
    that today's progress does not come at tomorrow's expense.
        This endeavor will require sustained, committed partnership. The
    United States is committed to providing a billion dollars to help
    developing nations find alternative energy sources and use them more
    efficiently. Next year at the Summit of the Americas in Santiago, we
    hope to make sustainable development a cornerstone of a new era in
    inter-American cooperation.
        As you have heard from the previous speakers, technology, science,
    and education are important allies in preserving the environment. Here
    in Bariloche, Argentina is building satellites that NASA will launch.
    And then from high above the Earth's atmosphere, they will help us to
    keep an eye on our planet's changing contours, including surveying the
    forest in Chaco and Mesopotamia, predicting agricultural patterns in La
    Pampa, monitoring the deserts in Patagonia, even tracking endangered
    whales in the south Atlantic.
        And the GLOBE program is using the Internet to teach students here
    and in over 50 other countries that a solid grasp of science and ecology
    is indeed the first step toward a cleaner world. Today I am pleased to
    announce that working with Argentina, we're establishing a new GLOBE
    program at a school in a very special place, Antarctica, a treasure held
    in trust for every person on Earth. I'm also pleased that the United
    States National Park Service and the Argentine National Parks
    Administration has signed an agreement for a 5-year program of
    cooperation.
        If you look at the national park around us here and its power to
    renew the soul, it certainly gives evidence to the truth of what the
    Argentine writer Victoria Ocampo wrote, when she said, ``We possess only
    what we really love.'' Well, this land belongs to everyone. It is
    protected by the Government, but we must all love it.
        Yesterday, Mr. President, Hillary and I had a chance to walk through
    the magical Arrayanes Forest. It was an experience we will never forget.
    And it gave us a renewed dedication to work with you to preserve our
    planet for these children and those whom they represent, the world over.
        At the dawn of a new century, let us resolve not only to give our
    children remarkable new economic and educational opportunities but to
    preserve our hemisphere and our Earth and to give new meaning to the
    words Nuevo Mundo.
        Thank you, Mr. President.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:05 a.m. at the Llao Llao Hotel. In his
    remarks, he referred to President Carlos Menem of Argentina; Gov. Pablo
    Verani, Rio Negro Province; Mayor Cesar Miguel of San Carlos de
    Bariloche; Conrado Franco Varotta, Executive Director, Argentine
    National Commission for Space; Carlos Suarez, executive director,
    Institute of Energy Economics, Bariloche Foundation; and Col. Robert D.
    Cabana, USMC, NASA astronaut.