Flap....Here's one for you....just to set the record straight...Dec 9, 1997: Gore Speech on Climate Criticized...
washingtonpost.com
Washington Post: Gore Speech on CLimate Criticized
Dec 9, 1997
Gore Speech on Climate Criticized
By Kevin Sullivan and Joby Warrick
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, December 9, 1997;
Page A01
KYOTO, Japan, Dec. 8—Vice President Gore's planned one-day whirl through the global climate conference here cheered some participants and enraged others but left most confused about his message and whether it will have any significant impact on the remaining 48 hours of negotiation on a treaty to combat global warming.
By the time a visibly jet-lagged Gore headed for the airport tonight, a top European Union official had rebuked him harshly, Congressional Republicans had lambasted him, China ignored him and a deeply divided array of environmental activists was left wondering whether their long-time ally had helped or hindered the complex negotiations.
"Al Gore flew all this way, and we see no change at all in the U.S. position," said Greenpeace spokesman Gary Cook, one of a small group of environmental activists who met privately with Gore tonight. "He raised a lot of hopes, but so far there's been no action."
In a speech this morning, Gore promised more flexibility from U.S. negotiators, but he offered no specifics. After nonstop meetings with officials of the EU, Japan and developing nations -- and with environmentalists, industry representatives and journalists -- Gore offered little information about what sort of flexibility he had in mind.
"We have no numbers, no text," said Pierre Gramegna of Luxembourg, a key official in the EU delegation, which has proposed the deepest cuts in emissions of the greenhouse gases that scientists say cause global warming.
The harshest criticism of the vice president came from EU Environment Minister Ritt Bjerregaard, who said Gore's statement amounted to "virtual reality" -- promising rhetoric filled with "dangerous loopholes."
"We in the EU are disappointed the rhetoric was not met by the reality," she said. "We must agree now -- before it is too late -- on early and significant reductions of emissions or face the disastrous consequences of global warming."
Still, even EU members said they are willing to give U.S. negotiators a chance to flesh out Gore's rhetoric, reflecting the confusion caused by his visit and a deep desire to see a treaty signed this week: "Mr. Gore has given us a window of opportunity, and we don't get many of those," said EU spokesman Peter Jorgensen. "We have a moral responsibility to explore it."
Gore's presence illustrated that the 10-day Kyoto conference, which ends Wednesday, has reached a point at which, as one British official put it, "political science takes over from natural science."
Top-level officials of the 159 participating countries took over the negotiations from lower-level bureaucrats who failed to achieve much progress toward an agreement in the conference's first week. With just two days left, major issues are still far from resolved -- especially the question of how much individual nations will be required to cut their gas emissions and how much, or whether, China and other developing nations will be required to participate.
The United States has argued here that developing nations, which soon will surpass the industrialized world as the leading emitters of greenhouse gases, must agree to some participation in any treaty reached in Kyoto. The Senate, which must ratify any treaty signed by the United States, supported that position in a 95-0 vote last summer.
In his speech, Gore promised developing countries that the United States does not want to deny their right to develop their economies. In a news conference tonight, he reiterated that any treaty must include "meaningful participation by key developing countries." He offered no details, saying that the "package" of proposals should be ironed out by negotiators in private.
Tanzanian delegate Bakari Mbonde, chairman of an alliance of the more than 130 developing nations represented in Kyoto, called Gore's speech "just a restatement of the U.S. position." Mbonde said the developing nations remain strongly opposed to any treaty that requires them to cut their emissions of greenhouse gases.
"We are the most vulnerable," he said. "Some of our members stand to lose everything."
Officials from China, which is second only to the United States in the production of greenhouse gases, did not address Gore's proposals, but they reiterated opposition to being included in any proposed regimen of new emissions cuts.
"Poverty eradication and developing the economy are still the overriding priorities of China," said Chen Yaobang, leader of the Chinese delegation. "It's not possible for the Chinese government to undertake the obligation of reducing greenhouse gases until the country develops."
Representatives of several developing countries said they will not even consider any treaty that requires them to make emissions cuts, but several members of Congress here said they will not consider any treaty that does not include such requirements.
Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), one of six senators observing the Kyoto process, said he believes the Senate might consider an agreement under which the developing countries agree to "a reasonable set of targets and goals," but not necessarily the kind of strict cuts Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and others are seeking.
The vice president also left the door open for flexibility in crafting an agreement with the developing nations: "We'll know it when we see it; and if we see it, we'll hope the Senate sees it," he said. Gore, who faced considerable political risks in coming to Kyoto, said he believes he accomplished what he set out to do. "There's no doubt in my mind that there is new momentum in the talks today."
Others were unconvinced. Some U.S. environmental groups complained about the lack of specifics in Gore's speech. "He came, he saw, he left. But it's not clear how much of a difference he made," said Dan Becker, climate campaign director for the Sierra Club.
But Fred Krupp, executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund, which has been an ally of the White House in the Kyoto process, credited Gore with initiating a "diplomatic thaw" that greatly improved chances for a treaty. "In my view, the deadlock has been broken," he said.
[On Tuesday, Krupp said Gore's speech had spurred significant movement "on a whole range of issues, including developing nations, and we're on track for a good solution." The biggest remaining obstacle, he said, was that "the compliance teeth have been stripped out and need to be put back in place."]
A key issue in Kyoto is how to deal with nations that do not meet their emissions-cuts obligations under any treaty reached here. Americans have been seeking fairly strict enforcement measures, while European officials have been loath to include penalties in any deal.
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