    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
    [February 12, 2003]
    [Pages 161-162]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Initiatives To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
    February 12, 2003

        The United States is taking prudent steps to address the long-term
    challenge of global climate change. We are reducing projected greenhouse
    gas emissions in the near term, while devoting greater resources to
    improving climate change science and developing advanced energy
    technologies. America has already made great progress in this effort:
    Between 1990 and 2001, industrial sector emissions were held constant,
    while our economy grew by almost 40 percent. Sustaining and accelerating
    this progress will help us meet our goal of reducing the greenhouse gas
    intensity of the American economy by 18 percent by 2012.
        A year ago, I challenged American businesses to develop new,
    voluntary initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I am pleased
    to announce today that 12 major industrial sectors and the membership of
    the Business Roundtable have responded with ambitious commitments to
    reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decade.
        America's electric utilities; petroleum refiners and natural gas
    producers; chemical, automotive, magnesium, iron and steel
    manufacturers; forest and paper producers; railroads; the mining,
    cement, aluminum and semiconductor industries; and many of America's
    leading corporations have committed to actions that will prevent
    millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decade. I
    commend these initiatives which will help these businesses and
    industries continue to improve their energy efficiency and overall
    productivity, while contributing toward achieving our goal to reduce the
    greenhouse gas intensity of the American economy.
        As I said last year, every sector of the economy will need to
    contribute to our efforts to achieve our ambitious national goal. These
    initiatives are a first step in what we expect to be an ongoing
    engagement with these and other sectors of our economy in the years
    ahead.
        Underpinning our approach to climate change is an understanding that
    meeting

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    this long-term challenge requires policies that recognize that sustained
    economic growth is an essential part of the solution. Policies that
    undermine the health of our economy would only hamper America's ability
    to develop and deploy new energy technologies and invest in energy
    efficiency and productivity improvements. The United States is the
    world's leader in technological development, industrial productivity,
    and environmental quality. These strengths make possible the initiatives
    that have been announced today to reduce or capture and store greenhouse
    gas emissions.