[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 31 (Monday, August 3, 1998)]
[Pages 1484-1485]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

July 25, 1998

    Good morning. This year we've seen a disturbing string of weather-
related emergencies all around our country, from flash floods in 
Tennessee to wildfires in Florida to ice storms last winter in New 
England. This summer record heat and drought are taking a terrible human 
toll, destroying crops, causing power outages, worst of all, taking 
lives. Just since June, more than 130 people have died because of the 
heat.
    Certainly, the latest El Nino is partly to blame for the severe 
weather conditions that have besieged so many communities. But growing 
evidence suggests that the extreme and erratic weather we're seeing in 
America and around the world is being intensified by global warming.
    Consider this: 1997 was the warmest year on record, and 1998 is on 
track to break that record. Five of the hottest years in history--the 5 
hottest years--have all occurred in the 1990's. Scientists predict that 
July may be the hottest month since mankind began recording 
temperatures. The world's leading climate experts predict even more 
extreme weather unless we reverse this dangerous warming trend.
    We're doing everything we can in the short term to help communities 
cope with this devastating heat wave. This week I released $100 million 
in emergency funds to the 11 hottest States. On Monday Agriculture 
Secretary Glickman and FEMA Director James Lee Witt will travel to Texas 
and Oklahoma to see what more we can do to help there. Today I'm pleased 
to announce that the Department of Energy will begin providing new 
crisis assistance to low-income families, repairing and replacing air-
conditioners and fans, installing insulation, and giving advice on the 
best way to keep homes cool in this extreme heat.
    But to meet the long-term challenge of global warming, we must do 
more. Vice President Gore and I have launched a comprehensive, cost-
effective strategy to protect our environment while creating new 
opportunities for economic growth. I've proposed $6.3 billion in 
research and tax incentives over the next 5 years to encourage the 
private sector to work with us to improve our energy efficiency, 
generate clean power, and reduce the greenhouse gases that contribute so 
much to global warming.
    We must all do our part to protect the environment, and as the 
Nation's largest energy consumer, the Federal Government must lead. At 
my direction, we're undertaking a multipart initiative to put our own 
house in order. Today I'm pleased to announce the first four parts of 
this plan, aimed at increasing the efficiency of Federal buildings.
    First, I'm directing Federal agencies to work more closely with 
private contractors to retrofit Federal buildings and other facilities 
with the best energy-saving technology, at no cost to taxpayers. Second, 
we'll replace hundreds of thousands of conventional light bulbs and 
fixtures with more efficient fluorescents, which will pay back in energy 
savings nearly 5 times what they cost to install. Third, I'm directing 
all agencies to work toward bringing their existing buildings up to 
EPA's ``Energy Star'' standard of energy efficiency. And fourth, the 
Defense Department and six other Federal agencies will adopt 
``sustainable design'' guidelines for all new Federal buildings to 
reduce their energy use.
    Now, together these measures will save taxpayers as much as a 
billion dollars a year in energy costs. They'll help to jumpstart 
markets for new technologies, and they'll protect our environment by 
reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
    We are facing squarely the problem of global warming, but there are 
still some in Congress who would rather pretend it

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doesn't exist. Despite mounting evidence, they would deny the science 
and ignore the warning signs. Rather than invest in a commonsense 
strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they want to cut programs 
for energy efficiency and renewable energy, program that long have 
enjoyed bipartisan support.

    Worst of all, some have even tried to keep the public from learning 
the facts about global warming by barring Federal agencies from even 
talking about the issue. Thankfully, this gag order was defeated in the 
House of Representatives just this week. Global warming is real. The 
risks it poses are real, and the American people have a right to know it 
and a responsibility to do something about it. The sooner Congress 
understands that, the sooner we can protect our Nation and our planet 
from increased flood, fire, drought, and deadly heat waves.

    To protect our environment, we must put progress ahead of 
partisanship. For nearly 30 years now, we've had a bipartisan commitment 
to preserving the environment. We have to bring it to this new 
challenge.

    As sweltering as this summer has been, if we don't act now, our 
children may look back on the summer of 1998 as one that was relatively 
mild and cool. There's no excuse for delay. We have the tools; we have 
the ingenuity to head off this threat. We have the opportunity and the 
deepest of obligations to leave our children and our grandchildren a 
healthy, thriving planet, God's great gift to us all.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 12:23 p.m. on July 24 in the Cabinet 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on July 25. A 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
July 24 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast.