    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [April 16, 2008]
    [Pages 505-509]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Energy and Climate Change
    April 16, 2008

        Thank you. Welcome. I thank you all for coming. I particularly want
    to thank members of my Cabinet for joining me here today in the Rose
    Garden.
        Tomorrow represents--representatives of the world's major economies
    will gather in Paris to discuss climate change. Here in Washington, the
    debate about climate change is intensifying. Today I'll share some views
    on this important issue to advance discussions both at home and abroad.
        Climate change involves complicated science and generates vigorous
    debate. Many are concerned about the effect of climate change on our
    environment. Many are concerned about the effect of climate change
    policies on our economy. I share these concerns, and I believe they can
    be sensibly reconciled.
        Over the past 7 years, my administration has taken a rational,
    balanced approach to these serious challenges. We believe we need to
    protect our environment. We believe we need to strengthen our energy
    security. We believe we need to grow our economy. And we believe the
    only way to achieve these goals is through continued advances in
    technology. So we've pursued a series of policies aimed at encouraging
    the rise of innovation, as well as more cost-effective clean energy
    technologies that can help America and developing nations reduce
    greenhouse gases, reduce our dependence on oil, and keep our economies
    vibrant and strong for the decades to come.
        I've put our Nation on a path to slow, stop, and eventually reverse
    the growth of our greenhouse gas emissions. In 2002, I announced our
    first step: to reduce America's greenhouse gas intensity by 18 percent
    through 2012. I'm pleased to say that we remain on track to meet this
    goal even as our economy has grown 17 percent.
        As we take these steps here at home, we're also working
    internationally on a rational path to addressing global climate change.
    When I took office 7 years ago, we faced a problem. A number of nations
    around the world were preparing to implement the flawed approach of
    Kyoto Protocol. In 1997, the United States Senate took a look at the
    Kyoto approach and

    [[Page 506]]

    passed a resolution opposing the approach by a 95-to-nothing vote.
        The Kyoto Protocol would have required the United States to
    drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The impact of this
    agreement, however, would have been to limit our economic growth and to
    shift American jobs to other countries while allowing major developing
    nations to increase their emissions. Countries like China and India are
    experiencing rapid economic growth, and that's good for their people,
    and it's good for the world. This also means they're emitting
    increasingly large quantities of greenhouse gases, which has
    consequences for the entire global climate.
        So the United States has launched, and the G-8 has embraced, a new
    process that brings together the countries responsible for most of the
    world's emissions. We're working toward a climate agreement that
    includes the meaningful participation of every major economy and gives
    none a free ride.
        In support of this process, and based on technology advances and
    strong new policy, it is now time for the United States to look beyond
    2012 and to take the next step. We've shown that we can slow emissions
    growth. But today I'm announcing a new national goal: to stop the growth
    of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.
        To reach this goal, we will pursue an economy-wide strategy that
    builds on the solid foundation that we have in place. As part of this
    strategy, we worked with Congress to pass energy legislation that
    specifies a new fuel economy standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020 and
    requires fuel producers to supply at least 36 billion gallons of
    renewable fuel by 2022. This should provide an incentive for shifting to
    a new generation of fuels, like cellulosic ethanol, that will reduce
    concerns about food prices and the environment.
        We also mandated new objectives for the coming decade to increase
    the efficiency of lighting and appliances. We're helping States achieve
    their goals for increasing renewable power and building-code efficiency
    by sharing new technologies and providing tax incentives. We're working
    to implement a new international agreement that will accelerate cuts in
    potent HCFC emissions. Taken together, these landmark actions will
    prevent billions of metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from
    entering the atmosphere.
        These objectives are backed by a combination of new market-based
    regulations, new government incentives, and new funding for technology
    research. We've provided billions of dollars for next generation nuclear
    energy technologies. Along with the private sector, we've invested
    billions more to research, develop, and commercially deploy renewable
    fuels, hydrogen fuel cells, advanced batteries, and other technologies
    to enable a new generation of vehicles and more reliable renewable power
    systems.
        In 2009 alone, the Government and the private sector plan to
    dedicate nearly a billion dollars to clean coal research and
    development. Our incentives for power production from wind and solar
    energy have helped to more than quadruple its use. We worked with
    Congress to make available more than $40 billion in loan guarantees to
    support investments that will avoid, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gas
    emissions or air pollutants. And our farmers can now compete for
    substantial new conservation incentives to restore land and forests in
    ways that help cut greenhouse gases.
        We're doing a lot to protect this environment. We've laid a solid
    foundation for further progress, but these measures--while these
    measures will bring us a long way to achieving our new goal, we've got
    to do more in the power generation sector. To reach our 2025 goal, we'll
    need to more rapidly slow the growth of power sector greenhouse gas
    emissions so they peak within 10 to 15 years and decline thereafter. By
    doing so, we'll reduce emission levels in the power sector well below
    where they were projected to be when we first announced our climate
    strategy in 2002.

    [[Page 507]]

        There are a number of ways to achieve these reductions, but all
    responsible approaches depend on accelerating the development and
    deployment of new technologies.
        As we approach this challenge, we face a growing problem here at
    home. Some courts are taking laws written more than 30 years ago to
    primarily address local and regional environmental effects, and applying
    them to global climate change. Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species
    Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act were never meant to
    regulate global climate. For example, under a Supreme Court decision
    last year, the Clean Air Act could be applied to regulate greenhouse gas
    emissions from vehicles. Now, this would automatically trigger
    regulation under the Clean Air Act of greenhouse gases all across our
    economy, leading to what Energy and Commerce Committee chairman John
    Dingell last week called, quote, ``a
    glorious mess.''
        If these laws are stretched beyond their original intent, they could
    override the programs Congress just adopted and force the Government to
    regulate more than just power plant emissions. It could also force the
    Government to regulate smaller users and producers of energy, from
    schools and stores to hospitals and apartment buildings. This would make
    the Federal Government act like a local planning and zoning board. It
    would have a crippling effect on our entire economy.
        Decisions with such far-reaching impact should not be left to
    unelected regulators and judges. Such decisions should be opened--
    debated openly. Such decisions should be made by the elected
    representatives of the people they affect. The American people deserve
    an honest assessment of the costs, benefits, and feasibility of any
    proposed solution.
        This is the approach that Congress properly took last year on
    mandatory policies that will reduce emissions from cars and trucks and
    improve the efficiency of lighting and appliances. This year, Congress
    will soon be considering additional legislation that will affect global
    climate change. I believe that congressional debate should be guided by
    certain core principles and a clear appreciation that there is a wrong
    way and a right way to approach reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Bad
    legislation would impose tremendous costs on our economy and on American
    families without accomplishing the important climate change goals we
    share.
        The wrong way is to raise taxes, duplicate mandates, or demand
    sudden and drastic emissions cuts that have no chance of being realized
    and every chance of hurting our economy. The right way is to set
    realistic goals for reducing emissions, consistent with advances in
    technology, while increasing our energy security and ensuring our
    economy can continue to prosper and grow.
        The wrong way is to sharply increase gasoline prices, home heating
    bills for American families, and the cost of energy for American
    businesses. The right way is to adopt policies that spur investment in
    the new technologies needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions more cost
    effectively in the longer term without placing unreasonable burdens on
    American consumers and workers in the short term.
        The wrong way is to jeopardize our energy and economic security by
    abandoning nuclear power and our Nation's huge reserves of coal. The
    right way is to promote more emission-free nuclear power and encourage
    the investments necessary to produce electricity from coal without
    releasing carbon into the air.
        The wrong way is to unilaterally impose regulatory costs that put
    American businesses at a disadvantage with their competitors abroad,
    which would simply drive American jobs overseas and increase emissions
    there. The right way is to ensure that all major economies are bound to
    take action and to work cooperatively with our partners for a fair and
    effective international climate agreement.

    [[Page 508]]

        The wrong way is to threaten punitive tariffs and protective--
    protectionist barriers, start a carbon-based global trade war, and to
    stifle the diffusion of new technologies. The right way is to work to
    make advanced technology affordable and available in the developing
    world by lowering trade barriers, creating a global free market for
    clean energy technologies, and enhancing international cooperation and
    technology investment.
        We must all recognize that in the long run, new technologies are the
    key to addressing climate change. But in the short run, they can be more
    expensive. And that is why I believe part of any solution means
    reforming today's complicated mix of incentives to make the
    commercialization and use of new, lower emission technologies more
    competitive. Today, we have different incentives for different
    technologies, from nuclear power to clean coal to wind and solar energy.
    What we need to do is consolidate them into a single, expanded program
    with the following features.
        First, the incentive should be carbon weighted to make lower
    emission power sources less expensive relative to higher emissions
    sources, and it should take into account our Nation's energy security
    needs.
        Second, the incentive should be technology neutral, because the
    Government should not be picking winners and losers in this emerging
    market.
        Third, the incentive should be long lasting. It should provide a
    positive and reliable market signal not only for the investment in a
    technology but also for the investments in domestic manufacturing
    capacity and infrastructure that will help lower costs and scale up
    availability.
        Even with strong new incentives, many new technologies face
    regulatory and political barriers. To pave the way for a new generation
    of nuclear power plants, we must provide greater certainty on issues
    from licensing to responsible management of spent fuel. The promise of
    carbon capture and storage depends on new pipelines and liability rules.
    Large-scale renewable energy installations are most likely to be built
    in sparsely populated areas, which will require advanced interstate
    transmission systems to deliver this power to major population centers.
    If we're serious about confronting climate change, then we have to be
    serious about addressing these obstacles.
        If we fully implement our new strong laws, adhere to the principles
    I've outlined, and adopt appropriate incentives, we will put America on
    an ambitious new track for greenhouse gas reductions. The growth in
    emissions will slow over the next decade, stop by 2025, and begin to
    reverse thereafter, so long as technology continues to advance.
        Our new 2025 goal marks a major step forward in America's efforts to
    address climate change. Yet even if we reduced our own emissions to zero
    tomorrow, we would not make a meaningful dent in solving the problem
    without concerted action by all major economies. So in connection with
    the major economies process we launched, we're urging each country to
    develop its own national goals and plans to reduce greenhouse gas
    emissions.
        Like many other countries, America's national plan will be a
    comprehensive blend of market incentives and regulations to reduce
    emissions by encouraging clean and efficient energy technologies. We're
    willing to include this plan in a binding international agreement, so
    long as our fellow major economies are prepared to include their plans
    in such an agreement. We recognize that different nations will design
    different strategies, with goals and policies that reflect their unique
    energy resources and economic circumstances. But we can only make
    progress if their plans will make a real difference as well.
        The next step in the major economies process is a meeting this week
    in Paris, and I want to thank my friend President Sarkozy for hosting it. There, representatives of all
    participating nations will lay the

    [[Page 509]]

    groundwork for a leaders' meeting in conjunction with the G-8 summit in
    July. Our objective is to come together on a common approach that will
    contribute to the negotiations under the U.N. framework convention of
    global climate once the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. This approach
    must be environmentally effective and economically sustainable.
        To be effective, this approach will require commitments by all major
    economies to slow, stop, and eventually reverse the growth of greenhouse
    gas emissions. To be economically sustainable, this approach must foster
    the economic growth necessary to pay for investments in new technology
    and to raise living standards. We must help countries in the developing
    world gain access to technologies as well as financing that will enable
    them to take a lower carbon path to economic growth.
        And then there will be the major economies leader meeting in July--
    that's the one I'll be going to--where we will seek agreement on a long-
    term global goal for emissions reductions, as well as an agreement on
    how national plans will be a part of the post-2012 approach. We'll also
    seek to increase international cooperation among private firms and
    governments in key sectors such as power generation, auto manufacturing,
    renewable fuels, and aluminum and steel.
        We will work toward the creation of an international clean
    technology fund that will help finance low emissions energy projects in
    the developing world. We'll call on all nations to help spark a global
    clean energy revolution by agreeing immediately to eliminate trade
    barriers on clean energy goods and services.
        The strategy I have laid out today shows faith in the ingenuity and
    enterprise of the American people, and that's a resource that's never
    going to run out. I'm confident that with sensible and balanced policies
    from Washington, American innovators and entrepreneurs will pioneer a
    new generation of technology that improves our environment, strengthens
    our economy, and continues to amaze the world.
        Thanks for coming.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:45 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to President Nicolas Sarkozy of
    France.