.
Mentioned in transcript: George HW Bush signs UN Agenda 21 climate agreement, passed stricter Clean Air Act, phased out CFC's, increased EPA budget, ran as environmental president in 1988, sought "global warming" and "climate change" commitments from congress. In 1990 enacted Acid Rain emissions trading. In 1990 mandated 13 federal agencies to work on global climate change.
6/13/1992, President George H. W. Bush News Conference after signing UN Agenda 21 agreement in Rio De Janeiro at UN Earth Summit, presidency.ucsb.edu
"The President. Well, let me first express
my thanks and congratulations to President Collor and the Brazilian
people and to all responsible for this Conference for their hospitality,
for their tremendous success in hosting the Earth summit....
We've signed a
climate convention. We've asked others to join us in presenting action
plans for the implementation of the climate convention. We've won
agreement on forest principles. We found a warm reception among the G - 7
and many developing countries to our Forests for the Future initiative.
Many U.S. proposals on oceans and public participation on the
importance of economic instruments and free markets were included in
this mammoth Agenda 21 document and the Rio Declaration.
Let me
be clear on one fundamental point. The United States fully intends to be
the world's preeminent leader in protecting the global environment. We
have been that for many years. We will remain so....
So with no further ado, I believe, Tom [Tom Raum, Associated Press], you have the first question, sir....
Q. Mr. President...you set a January 1st target
for another meeting of the Conference to discuss global warming. You've
set a lot of deadlines for Congress that haven't been heeded. Your
proposal yesterday wasn't particularly well-received by the other
nations. Why do you think that that January 1st deadline will be heeded
any more than your congressional deadlines?
The President. I
don't think there's any comparison because I think the G - 7 nations and
the developed nations want to meet the commitments that they've signed
up for. So I've not found that it wasn't received well at all. In fact,
Bill Reilly told me it was well-received. And we will be there with
specific plans....
I think the Third World and others are
entitled to know that the commitments made are going to be commitments
kept.
Brit
[Brit Hume, ABC News].
Q. Mr. President, you
and members of your administration feel that you came here with a good
record on the environment and a good case to make for the positions
you've taken. If that's so, sir, how is it that the words, remarks of
your critics seem to so dominate the atmosphere?
The President.
Well, I don't know. I guess it's because all the banks that weren't
robbed today don't make news. When Americans criticize America outside
of America, that seems to make news. The positive accomplishments I
think should make the news, and I maintain that we have the best
environmental record in the world. And I think the people I talked to
yesterday certainly would concede that we have been world leaders....
What dominates is the protest, not the fact
that there was a great, warm reception along the way.
Q. Well, if I could follow up, sir -- --
The President. Yes.
Q.
-- -- you, in one remark you made, and members of your administration
have indicated that there are other nations here, some of whose
officials were critical of your positions, who are in no position
themselves, or their countries are in no position, to meet the terms of
the climate change treaty, for example, and yet they were privately
critical of you. And you suggested that that was so. Would you care to
elaborate on who they were and what they -- --
The President. No, I don't think I suggested that at all. What I'm saying is let's go forward.
Q. Do you think they're glad that you had taken the position that you have taken?
The
President. Well, I think most are. I think most people are glad that
we've taken this position to go forward. I was very pleased,
incidentally, with the remarks by Chancellor Kohl, by Brian Mulroney;
had a good talk with the Prime Minister of Japan before getting here;
I'm most appreciative of John Major for what he said. So I think there's
not only understanding but support for American positions....
Developing Nations
Q.
Yes, Patricia Walsh, United Press International, a slightly little bit
longer question for you, Mr. President. Some respected environmentalists
here at the Earth summit say that poverty leads to many of the
environmental problems and that poverty in developing nations is
perpetuated by unending foreign debt and an unfair trade balance that
funnels money from the south to the north. They criticize the Earth
summit and wealthy nations like the United States for not focusing on
these issues here. How would you respond to that criticism, please?
The
President. I would take great credit for the fact that the United
States has taken the leadership role, a unique one that's been
well-received, in debt-for-equity swaps or forgiveness of debt or
debt-for-environmental swaps. And I think that shows that we are
sensitive to the problems of the Third World in terms of the economy....
Yes, John [John Cochran, NBC News].
Environmental Policy
Q.
A couple of questions about your wish back in the '88 campaign to be
the environmental President....Given the opposition of environmental groups, can
you still campaign as the environmental President, and will you?
The
President. Well, I think so -- and for the very reasons that the man
standing next to me, who has superb environmental credentials, has made
over and over again here. You cannot go to the extreme. And yes, I do
have to be concerned about the American worker, about taxes, about a lot
of things like that; a President must be concerned. But I think we have
an outstanding environmental record.
Let me just click off some
of it for you: The Clean Air Act, and that was ours. We did it. We
needed the Democrats' support, and we got it done. It is the most
forward-looking piece of legislation that any country has in place.
We've
got a national energy strategy that emphasizes alternate fuels and
conservation and all of this part of it. We've got a forestation program
that is second to none. I'd like to see the Congress move forward with
my plan to plant a billion trees a year, and we're going to keep pushing
on that.
We've done what's right environmentally on drilling,
putting the sensitive, environmentally sensitive areas off bounds. We've
done that in the Florida Keys, for example, and off of Big Sur.
We
have over a billion dollars in new lands, and our parks, forests,
wildlife refuges, have all been added to. So we have a good stewardship
of the land.
We took the leadership in phasing out CFC's, and I
think that is a very important environmental leadership role by the
United States. Our budget for EPA is up considerably, our Environmental
Protection Agency.
So I think along the lines we've done very,
very well. And I think that's a case I will be proud to take to the
American people.
Q. Can I follow up with one, sir?
The President. Yes, please.
Q.
Sir, you talk about not wanting to jeopardize jobs by being overly
conscious of environmental concerns, but you've never really been very
specific about which jobs you would save with your policies, for
example, on global warming and the biodiversity treaty.
The
President. I will give you an example, and that was on the owl decision.
There what was clearly at stake was some 30,000 jobs in the Northwest.
That decision was met with some opposition by certain environmentalists,
but it was a good decision. Some people regrettably will still be put
out of work, but not near as many as if that arrangement had not been
achieved....
Environmental Policy
Q.
Mr. President, on the way back home today you will be flying for some
two to three hours over the Amazon forests. Do you believe your
200-something U.S. million dollars of your Forests for the Future
initiative will make a difference?
The President. Well, I
certainly think it will, and most people here seem to think it will,
yes. I salute President Collor for the steps he is taking in terms of
preservation of that great forest. You see, we've got a good
record in terms of forest policy. We're doing something about below-cost
timber sales in 10 national forests. We've signed this Tongass Timber
Reform Act, which is in a very sensitive -- below-cost timber sales in
an extraordinarily sensitive American rain forest.
So I think
we've got a good record. I'm very pleased with the way that forestry
initiative has been received here. I noticed that it was singled out by
several of the leaders in their speech yesterday. And it's those
positive things that I think just emphasize once again the U.S. role of
leadership in the environment....
U.N. Conference on Environment
Q.
Mr. President, in following up this Conference, what do you think
you'll be doing in the way of supporting an international organization
to oversee the work that has come out of this Conference?
The
President. I think one of the main things we're going to do is go
forward with this January 1st date in order to present detailed plans to
meet the climate change commitments. We're pretty far along on that,
and we're prepared to share with others. Bill Reilly will be actively
involved in that. Any commitment we make here will be kept, and so we
have a broad agenda to follow through on.
We forget that there
are many, many commitments, some involving funds, some not, being made
here at this Conference.
And the EPA leadership will be extraordinarily
busy in getting specific now to follow them up. I'm excited about that
because I think our leadership is up to it, and I think others will
welcome it....
Thank you all very much." via Democrats Against UN Agenda 21
====================================
UN Agenda 21, Chapter One, item 4, Money must be transferred:
"The developmental and environmental objectives of
Agenda 21 will require a substantial flow of new and additional
financial resources to developing countries, in order to cover the
incremental costs for the actions they have to undertake to deal with
global environmental problems and to accelerate sustainable development.
Financial resources are also required for strengthening the capacity
of international institutions for the implementation of Agenda 21. An
indicative order-of-magnitude assessment of costs is included in each of
the programme areas. This assessment will need to be examined and
refined by the relevant implementing agencies and organizations."
====================================
G HW Bush's Clean Air Amendments, 11/15/1990, amended 1970 Clean Air Act, established emissions trading in the US:
"The result of this new Clean Air Act
will
be that cancer risk, respiratory disease, heart ailments, and
reproductive disorders will be reduced; damage to lakes, streams, parks,
crops, and forests will greatly be lessened; and visibility will be
notably improved. As an added benefit, energy security will on balance
be enhanced as utilities and automobiles switch to cleaner burning
alternative fuels.
The innovative use of market incentives in the
bill represents the turning of a new page in our approach to
environmental problems in this country. The acid rain allowance trading
program will be the first large-scale regulatory use of market
incentives and is already being seen as a model for regulatory reform
efforts here and abroad. The acid rain program is based on some simple
concepts -- that we should set tough standards, allow freedom of choice
in how to meet them, and let the power of markets help us allocate the
costs most efficiently.
By employing a system that generates the
most environmental protection for every dollar spent, the trading system
lays the groundwork for a new era of smarter government regulation; one
that is more compatible with economic growth than using only the
command and control approaches of the past.
Other provisions to increase
flexibility include increased opportunities for emissions trading and
performance standards for fuel refiners to encourage alternative fuel
reformulations. In all, these path-breaking features allow us to
implement the legislation in a way that achieves my environmental goals
at an acceptable cost. The result will be the dawning of a new era in
regulatory policy, one that relies on the market to reconcile the
environment and the economy."...
============================
George HW Bush enacted the “U.S. Global Change Research Act of 1990” tasking 13 federal agencies with climate change endeavors.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment