*********BALLARD POWER: PRESIDENT CLINTON SPEAKS!!!!!
For Immediate Release October 6, 1997
1997-10-06 Remarks at Conference on Climate Change
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From : The White House
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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_________________________________________________
For Immediate Release October 6, 1997
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Georgetown University
Washington, D.C.
10:30 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you
, Mr Vice President, for your remarks, and your remarkable
leadership to help us keep our Earth in the balance.
Thank you, Father O'Donovan, for letting me come
home to Georgetown one more time to discuss a matter
of immense importance to America and its future. I thank
the members of Congress and the members of the Cabinet
and the administration who are here, all those who have
agreed to serve on the panels, and all you who have
come to be a part of this important day.
Six years ago last Friday -- I can hardly believe it,
but it was six years ago last Friday that I announced
my intention to run for President -- challenging America
to embrace and to vigorously pursue a vision of our
country for the 21st century: to make the American
Dream alive for every person responsible to work for
it, to keep our country the world's strongest force for
peace and freedom and prosperity, to bring ou
r people together across all the lines that divide us
into one America.
Shortly afterward I came here to Georgetown to
this great hall to outline specific strategies and new
policies to achieve that vision, rooted in our values
of opportunity and responsibility, faith and family
and community; designed to help Americans seize the
opportunities and solve the problems of this new age
. It was clear to me that our new direction had to be
rooted in some basic guideposts -- that we had to be
oriented toward the future, not the past; toward
change, not the status quo; toward partnership
, not division; toward giving all a chance, no tjust
the few; and finally toward making sure America
leads, not follows.
We tried to develop a new approach to
government, where we didn't claim to do everything
and we wouldn't tolerate doing nothing, but instead
we focused on giving people the tools to make the
most of their own lives and creating the conditions
that would allow them to succeed.
And we had new policies -- the economic policies
and trade policies, education policy, crime and welfare,
policies toward the working poor, policies to bolster
families and help them balance work and child-rearing
, policies in health care and foreign policy and, yes,
policies in the environment.
In the last four years and eight months, I think it's
fair to say that, together, we have made real progress
toward that vision for the 21st century. We stand at the
threshold of that century stronger than most people
thought was possible back in 1991, with our economy
thriving, our social fabric mending, our leadership in the
world strong. We have a solid foundation of
achievement on which to stand as we take on
the remaining challenges to build that bridge to
the 21st century.
We are back here at Georgetown today because
global climate change clearly is one of the most
important of those challenges, and also one of
the most complex, crossing the disciplines of
environmental science, economics, technology,
business, politics, international development and
global diplomacy; affecting how we and all others
on this planet will live, support our families, grow
our food, produce our energy and realize our
dreams in the new century.
That's why we've put together this White
House Conference on Climate Change, bringing
together experts and leaders with a wide range of
knowledge and a wide range of views. People o
f goodwill bring to this conference many honest
disagreements about the nature of the threat we
face and how we should respond. That is healthy
in a democracy like ours. My hope is that we will
take advantage of this forum to actually talk
with each other rather than past each other.
For it is our responsibility to work together to
achieve two vital and compatible goals,
ensuring the continued vitality of our planet and
expanding economic growth and opportunity for
our people.
Despite the complexities of these challenges
, we have good reason to be optimistic, beginning
with our 220-year record of making all manner o
f difficult problems solvable, and, importantly, a
very good record in the last generation of
environmental progress. For in the last generation
alone, we came together to heed Rachel Carson's
warnings and banned DDT and other poisons.
We cleaned up rivers so filthy they were catching
on fire; phased out lead in gasoline and chemicals
that were eating a hole in the ozone layer.
We worked with citizens to conserve the
headwaters forest of Northern California,
restore the Florida Everglades, protect
Yellowstone National Park from the assaults of
mining -- in each case, proving that environmental
stewardship does not have to hamstring
economic growth.
Indeed, in tackling the difficult task of
cutting sulphur dioxide emissions with an innovative
system of permit trading, the United States is wel
l ahead of the schedule we set for ourselves and
well below the projected cost in cleaning the
environment. I believe we can find that same
common ground as we address the challenge
of climate change.
Before we begin our discussion today, I think
it's important for me to explain the four principles
that will guide my approach to this issue. First, I'm
cnvinced that the science of climate change is real.
We'll hear more about this today from our first panel.
But for me the bottom line is that, although we do
not know everything, what we do knowis more than
enough to warrant responsible action.
The great majority of the world's climate
scientists have concluded if we don't cut ou
r emission of greenhouse gases, temperatures
will arise and will disrupt the global climate.
In fact, most scientists say this process has
already begun. I might add that I had
nothing to do with scheduling this conference
on the day which is predicted to be the hottest
October 6th that we have ever had in
Washington, D.C. (Laughter.)
I know not everyone agrees on how to interpret
the scientific conclusions. I know not everyone
shares my assessment of the risks. But I think we
all have to agree that the potential for serious
climate disruption is real. It would clearly be a
grave mistake to bury our heads in the sand and
pretend the issue will go away.
The second principle is that when the nations
of the world meet in December in Kyoto, Japan,
we must be prepared to commit to realistic and
binding goals on our emissions of greenhouse
gases. With 4 percent of the world's population,
we enjoy more than 20 percent of the world's
wealth -- which helps to explain why we also
produce more than 20 percent of the world's
greenhouse gases. If we expect other nations
to act on the problem, we must show leadership.
The third principle is that we must embrace
solutions that will allow us to continue to grow
our economy as we honor our global responsibilities
and our responsibilities to our children. We've worked
far too hard to revitalize the American Dream to
jeopardize our progress now. Therefore, we mus
t emphasize flexible market-based approaches.
We must work with business and industry to find
the right ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
We must promote technologies that make energy
production and consumption more efficient.
There are many people here today from
companies that are addressing the climate change
in innovative ways, taking steps that will save money
for American families even as we reduce the threat of
global warming. For example, a number of leading
electric utilities, including AEP, Southern Company,
Niagara Mohawk and Northern States Power, are
working with homeowners to promote a new
technology called geo-exchange, using geotherma
l pumps to heat and cool homes far more cheaply
than traditional systems while reducing greenhouse
gas emissions by 40 percent or more. Ballard Power
and United Technologies are leading pioneers in
developing fuel cells that are so clean,
their only exhaust is distilled water.
Right now, Ballard is working with
Chrysler, Mercedes Benz and Toyota to introduce
fuel cells into new cars. Both of these technologies
represent the kind of creative solutions that will
make our job much easier.
The fourth principle is that we must expect
all nations, both industrialized and developing,
to participate in this process in a way that is
fair to all. It is encouraging that so many nations
in so many parts of the world are developing so
rapidly. That is good news for their people and
it is good for America's economic future. But as
we've seen right here at home, rising energy
demands that accompany economic development
traditionally have meant large increases in greenhouse
gas emissions. In fact, if current trends continue
, emissions from the developing world will likely
eclipse those from the developed world in the
next few decades.
But they have an opportunity to pursue a
different future without sacrificing economic growth.
The industrialized world alone cannot assume
responsibility for reducing emissions. Otherwise
, we'll wind up with no reduction in emissions within
a matter of a few decades. In Kyoto, therefore,
we will ask for meaningful, but equitable commitments
from all nations. Second, we must explore new
ways for American businesses to help these rapidly
growing countries to meet their developmental
needs with cleaner and more efficient energ
y technologies.
Today I hope we can take a step forward in
putting all four of these principles into effect. We
have studied this issue long enough to know that
there are sensible options for action. It is our job now
to pull them together into a coherent plan.
Nearly three decades ago when the Apollo
astronauts first went to the Moon, we gained an
entirely new perspective on the global challenge we
face today. For looking down on Earth from the
vantage point that revealed no political boundaries
or divisions, the astronauts had the same chilling
sensation. They were simply awestruck by how
tiny and fragile our planet is -- protected from the
harsh void of space by an atmosphere that
looked as thin and delicate as the skin of an
onion. Every astronaut since has experienced
the same insight, and they've even given it a
name -- the Overview Effect. It has instilled in
each new astronaut a passion to convince
people we must work together on Earth's behalf.
Rusty Schwieckart has said, you realize that
on that little blue and white thing, there is everything
that means anything to you -- all history and music
and poetry and art and death and birth and love -- all
of it on that little spot out there you can cover
with your thumb.
To the best of my knowledge, only one person
here has actually experienced the Overview
Effect firsthand -- Dr. Mae Jemison, a former shuttle
astronaut and current international development
expert who will participate in our third panel
discussion this afternoon. Nonetheless, I challenge
everyone in this room to rise to a vantage point
high enough to experience the overview effect.
It will enable us to reach common ground.
Let me say when the Vice President
was talking and Father O'Donovan was talking
, I was looking around this old hall that I have
loved for so long, and I found it utterly amazing
that I first came here 33 years ago. I was reading
this morning up at Camp David the list of people who
were going to be here today, and I found it utterly
amazing that a few of you I first talked to as
long as 20 years ago about the need to build an
alternative energy future for America. And I find it
completely amazing that five-eighths of my
presidency is behind me.
I make these points for this reason: If you
think about the benchmarks in your own life, it
doesn't take long to live your life. And what seems
at the beginning of your life a very long time, seems
to have passed in the flash of an eye once you have
experienced it. These great developments, such as
the one we're here to talk about today, occur over
many life spans. And popular democracies are
far more well-organized to take advantage of
opportunities or deal with immediate crises than
they are to do the responsible thing, which is to
take a moderate, but disciplined approach far
enough in advance of a train coming down the
track to avoid leaving our children and our
grandchildren with a catastrophe.
So I ask you to think about that. We do
not want the young people who sat on these
steps today, for whom 33 years will also pass
in the flash of an eye, to have to be burdened
or to burden their children with our failure to act
. Thank you. (Applause.)
END 10:48 A.M. EDT
_______________________________________________________
Organization Executive Office of The President
Date Tue, 07 Oct 1997 16:07:00 GMT
Keywords Business, Ecology, Economy, Energy, Environment, Foreign, International-Cooperation,
President, Remarks, Science, Technology, Topical-Remarks
Newsgroups alt.politics.elections,alt.news-media,alt.president.clinton,politics.democrats.clinton,politics.org.misc,alt.politics.reform,talk.politics.misc,alt.politics.clinton,alt.politics.media
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