COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES FRANK H. MURKOWSKI, Alaska, Chairman MARK O. HATFIELD, Oregon DON NICKLES, Oklahoma LARRY E. CRAIG, Idaho BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado ROD GRAMS, Minnesota JAMES M. JEFFORDS, Vermont J. BENNETT JOHNSTON, Louisiana BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota GREGG D. RENKES, Staff Director GARY G. ELLSWORTH, Chief Counsel BENJAMIN S. COOPER, Staff Director for the Minority (II) 97-160840. Ford, Hon. Wendell H., U.S. Senator from Kentucky Johnston, Hon. J. Bennett, U.S. Senator from Louisiana Weyant, Dr. John P., Professor of Engineering-Economic System ations Research, Stanford University Wirth, Timothy E., Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, of State OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK H. MU The CHAIRMAN. Good morning. I want to welcome The focus of the hearing today is U.S. climate cha while exploring this topic, we will delve into a little ics and science along the way. I have often been fascinated with the experimer the ice cores taken from the Greenland icecap-m aware of that-because it really gives us a history climate and the realization that in these cores we ca tell the extremes associated with the activity from others things that have affected our climate the g the retreat in sea levels, the changing shoreline, blizzards, and so forth. And that evidently appear the case for eons. Assigning human causes to these natural events some of our weekly news magazines, Time and New virtually every major storm perhaps is to overstate fluence on Earth at any given time. Regardless of do, dynamic forces will continue to reshape our plan Having said that, I think we can all agree that to curtail human activities that can really be show dangerous, significant and adverse climate changes. goal of the United Nations Framework Conventio Change that the Senate ratified back in 1992. But, gree, the scientific jury is still out over the question not varied human activities will result in danger and adverse climate changes. There is an organization called the Intergovernm Climate Change, the IPCC, which I will refer to, wh leased its first new report in 5 years. And this repo following statement: "The balance of evidence suggests that there is human influence on global climate." (1) observed climate changes to the specific cause house gases. No study to date has positively t of the climatic change observed to date to y claims of positive detection of significant cliely to remain controversial until uncertainties variability of the climate system are reduced." ad these statements, it is tough to make the climate change is at hand or that manmade the cause. But, nevertheless, we have the oberr on the side of being conservative. Moreover, ote that the IPCC itself has reduced its estiglobal warming with apparently each new reout with. his scientific uncertainty, the question before e American people is: Is urgent action needed, er Secretary Wirth? Do we need emission caps, axes or other new mandatory mechanisms to the first time the administration proposed a rejected it. Is the administration trying to United Nations, something it failed to achieve e will have an opportunity to pursue that in about science during this hearing. So let me olicy and economics. e ratified a treaty calling for non-binding aims, measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions. onal meetings in Berlin and Geneva, State Detook a different tack. ed that there would be new greenhouse gas would apply to the United States and other inbut that the new limits would not apply to deh as China, India and South Korea. I am told erpretation of that, and we will be enlightened . In Geneva, we agreed that new limits would gally binding, as is my understanding. |