Senate panel demands global warming plan
By John Heilprin
Aug. 1, 2001 | WASHINGTON (AP) --
Senators impatient with President Bush's handling of global warming are urging his administration to have a plan to address the climate change phenomenon by October for the next round of international negotiations.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 19-0 to approve a resolution Wednesday saying any global warming agreement must require mandatory cuts in a number of gases emitted from power plants and other sources that scientists say are trapping heat in the atmosphere like a greenhouse.
It asks Congress to agree that "the United States should demonstrate international leadership and responsibility" by taking steps "to ensure significant and meaningful reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases from all sectors."
Sponsored by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph Biden, D-Del., who is the committee chairman, the resolution -- tucked into the State Department budget -- characterizes the 1997 climate treaty reached in Kyoto, Japan, as a feasible solution despite Bush's stance it is unworkable.
"More than anything, this amendment makes clear that the Bush administration's current posture of sitting on the sidelines is unacceptable," Kerry said. "The committee is saying very loudly that it expects the U.S. to provide international leadership."
The Bush administration has called for new approaches, based largely on voluntary measures, while declining to participate in last month's international negotiations at Bonn, Germany, where 178 countries approved a climate change accord.
The next round of negotiations, as part of United Nations-sponsored climate treaty talks, is scheduled for October in Marakkesh, Morocco. Administration officials have said they may not have a proposal ready by that time. |
