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“MORE QUESTIONS ON GLOBAL WARMING” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S3370-S3371 on April 21, 1998.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
MORE QUESTIONS ON GLOBAL WARMING
Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, last year the Senate passed a bipartisan resolution, S. Res. 98, which expressed the Sense of the Senate that the United States should not enter into any global warming treaty unless developing nations joined in the effort by agreeing to emission limits. This resolution passed by a vote of 95-0.
Despite this clear and specific resolution, the Administration negotiated and agreed to a treaty in Kyoto which sets binding limits on carbon emissions by developed nations, but which compels no similar participation from the developing world. Clearly, the Kyoto treaty fails to meet the criteria established by S. Res. 98.
To date, China, India, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and other emerging trading partners have no obligations under the Kyoto Treaty. Since signing the agreement, the Administration has worked to secure some level of participation by these nations with the intention of amending the Treaty. Of course, these countries understand the economic impact of emissions limits, so it is not surprising that the United States is having a difficult time convincing these governments that their participation is necessary.
Recently, however, the State Department reports that it has reached
``a conceptual agreement'' with some countries to ``pursue an umbrella group to trade emissions permits.'' No details about the nature or design of the agreement have been released, so it is difficult to judge the success of the recent efforts. A few questions come to mind however. What limits would these nations agree to? Would this be a part of the Protocol or a separate agreement outside the Protocol? How would this ``umbrella group'' even be recognized by the Protocol Parties? Finally, what is the U.S. offering to entice this group?
Mr. President, the Administration's actions and comments since Kyoto raise many questions but provide few answers. I hope the delegation will be more forthcoming in the next few months and allow Congress and the public an opportunity to comment on the U.S. proposals prior to the June and November sessions.
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