[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 24 (Monday, June 21, 1993)]
[Pages 1076-1077]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the President's Council on Sustainable Development

 June 14, 1993

    Thank you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for 
being here. It has been a year since the Earth summit in Rio. I think 
you might be interested to know that a year ago at the Earth summit in 
Rio I placed a call to Senator Al Gore of Tennessee to get a report on 
the goings-on there from him and from Senator Wirth of Colorado and to 
begin the process by which we came together as a team. Not very long 
after that I asked Al Gore to join the Democratic ticket, and the rest 
was history.
    I don't want to make any bones about it. When we had our first very 
long meeting, one thing that then-Senator Gore said was that he wanted 
to be part of a ticket that, if elected, could put the environment back 
on the front burner in American public life and do it in a way that 
would be good for the economy, not bad for the economy, do it in a way 
that would bring the American people together, not divide them. All the 
policy positions that the Vice President just announced that we have 
taken to change the direction of the previous administrations and, more 
importantly, to go beyond politics to embrace a new philosophy of 
uniting our goals of preserving the environment and promoting economic 
growth would have been very difficult to achieve had it not been for his 
leadership and constant involvement and faithfulness to this cause. And 
the American people owe him a great debt of gratitude.
    I would also like to acknowledge the presence of one other person in 
this audience who has not been introduced and is not up here, but it 
will become obvious when I say what I want to say. The Deputy Secretary 
of Education, Madeleine Kunin is here. She is formerly the Governor of 
Vermont. And as far as I know, she was the only Governor in the country 
that actually had a sustainable development commission actively 
operating on the problems of the people of Vermont when she was the 
Governor. And she in many ways blazed a trail for what we are attempting 
to do today. And I thank you for that.
    A year ago the United States was in Rio fighting the Global Warming 
Treaty and the Biodiversity Treaty. Our leading economic competitors 
were at the Earth summit signing off on the Global Warming Treaty, 
signing off on the Biodiversity Treaty. And while the United States was 
fighting to water it down, change it, or thwart it, they spent all their 
time selling environmental technology to other nations in the world, 
making money while we made hot air.
    What a difference a year can make. This morning the Vice President 
made us all proud in his opening address before the United Nations 
Commission on Sustainable Development. America is now doing what we 
ought to do. We're leading again, leading the nations of the world in 
the pursuit of a great purpose.
    This afternoon I am announcing the creation of the President's 
Council on Sustainable Development to help set policies to grow the 
economy and preserve the environment for our children and our children's 
children, bringing together some of the most innovative people from 
business, from government, from the environmental movement, the civil 
rights movement, and the labor movement, people who bring a wealth of 
experience and accomplishment to this mission, people who have developed 
environmentally sound products, found ways to protect our air and water, 
and defended communities all across the country against pollution and 
health hazards.
    In the past, many might not have ever had the chance to sit down at 
the table and work together. But now they are working together. These 
men and women have real experience in the real world, and I am counting 
on them to achieve real results. I am asking them to find new ways to 
combine economic growth and environmental protection, to promote our 
best interests in the world community, to bring our people together to 
meet the needs of the present without jeopardizing the future. I am 
asking the Council to be guided by three principles that form our 
environmental policies.

[[Page 1077]]

    First, we believe a healthy economy and a healthy environment go 
hand-in-hand. Environmental problems result not from robust growth but 
from reckless growth. And we can grow the economy by making our people 
healthier, our communities more attractive, and our products and our 
services more environmentally conscious.
    Second, America must lead the way in promoting economic growth and 
environmental preservation at home and abroad. We live in an era of 
global economics, global environmentalism, global epidemics. Our lives 
and our livelihoods depend upon people throughout the world being 
healthy and prosperous and respectful of the planet we all share. What 
is good for the world in this sense is very good for America.
    And third, we must move beyond the false choices and unnecessary 
antagonisms of the past. From American business and American labor to 
the world's wealthiest nations and the world's poorest, we all share a 
common interest in economic growth that preserves rather than pollutes 
our environment. America can set an example by achieving economic growth 
that can continue through the lifetimes of our children and 
grandchildren because it respects the resources that make that growth 
possible.
    That is what we mean by sustainable development. That is why I'm 
asking this Council to promote healthy communities and environmentally 
sound products and services that will do the best in the world to make 
our marketplace the best in the world now and well into the 21st 
century.
    When we talk about environmental justice, we mean calling a halt to 
the poisoning and the pollution of our poorest communities, from our 
rural areas to our inner cities. We don't have a person to waste, and 
pollution clearly wastes human lives and natural resources. When our 
children's lives are no longer cut short by toxic dumps, when their 
minds are no longer damaged by lead paint poisoning, we will stop 
wasting the energy and the intelligence that could build a stronger and 
a more prosperous America.
    When we talk about environmentally sound products and services, we 
mean light bulbs and computers and refrigerators that use less energy 
and automobiles that produce less pollution. People all across the world 
want to buy these goods and services, and when we make them in America, 
that means better paying and more secure jobs and higher living 
standards for all of our people.
    Americans take pride in our know-how, our can-do spirit, and our 
love of this remarkable land that God has given us. With leaders like 
the men and women here today, we can put what is best about America to 
work building a stronger economy and preserving this planet for our 
children and all generations to come.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 4:35 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House.