CONTENTS Bernthal, Dr. Frederick M., Deputy Director, NSF Prepared statement. GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE: SEEKING A GLOBAL CONSENSUS THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 1990 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE AND TRANSPORTATION, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:05 p.m. in room SR253, Hon. Albert Gore, Jr. presiding. Staff members assigned to this hearing: Mike Nelson, professional staff member and Susan Aylward, minority staff counsel. OPENING STATEMENT BY SENATOR GORE Senator GORE. The Committee will come to order. I would like to welcome our witnesses and our guests. I have an opening statement, which without objection I will read for the record. Ever since President Bush took office more than 16 months ago, he has been urged time and again by members of Congress, other world leaders and concerned citizens in this Nation, and in countries around the world to live up to his campaign pledge to protect the environment. He has been urged to provide leadership in this area. The United States has a unique opportunity to confront the most serious environmental crisis we have ever faced with courage, vision and commitment; the world expects that much from us, and the situation demands that much and more. Unfortunately, that opportunity is now being lost by an Administration that seems to be scared of the facts, blind to the future, unwilling to move forward. In just the last six weeks, several important events have taken place that seem to make it undeniable that this Administration is building a legacy of environmental inaction and neglect. In midApril, the White House held a conference on global warming where the President outraged delegates from other nations by failing to recognize the urgency of the problem and by recommending a policy of delay and hesitation, and calling for research instead of action. The European delegates at that conference wanted to discuss ideas for more concrete and prompt action, but they were completely ignored. Many of the delegates, according to the news reports, were greatly offended because the meeting was orchestrated in a way that only hand-picked U.S. officials could speak and everyone else was silenced. In the end, it was clear to those present that this Administration simply did not intend to cooperate with other nations in developing strategies to protect the world from the threats posed by global warming. (1) In May it was reported that President Bush had once again made the United States an environmental outcast in the world community. At that time, the topic was the stratospheric ozone layer. There is no dispute about the serious problem we face there. There is no question that the ozone layer is being destroyed by man-made chemicals and that this in turn will lead to increased numbers of skin cancers, damaged crops, more cataracts, damage to the web of life especially in the ocean. Yet despite these findings President Bush instructed U.S. negotiators to oppose efforts supported by nations around the world to protect the stratospheric ozone layer, and with his opposition he began undermining the single most important international agreement to date to protect the world's environment. Now we have a report that the United States may be once again leading an environmental retreat, this time refusing to cooperate with the rest of the world on how best to confront the challenge of global warming. We are going to learn more about that today, but according to some news reports the President used U.S. influence to dilute a report by the U.N.-sponsored working group that is charged with developing the international response strategies to address global warming. The report in question is being drafted by the Response Strategies Working Group of the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Rather than calling for the action-oriented response strategies favored by many other nations involved in the process, the draft report of the working group chaired by the U.S. instead proposes, we are told, no specific goals or timetables for action. We will find out some more about that today, but let me just take a moment to explain the significance of this action. First, the IPCC is the official forum in which nations from around the world are drafting three important reports on climate change. Working Group I, chaired by the United Kingdom, has prepared a report on the science of climate change, and we are going to have testimony this afternoon from Dr. Robert Watson based upon what that group has been doing. Another report prepared by Working Group II, which is chaired by the Soviet Union, assesses the impacts to expect from climate change. That will be discussed today by Dr. Alan Hecht. The third report has been prepared by the U.S.-chaired Working Group III, and that is on the response strategies to address climate change, and we are very pleased that Dr. Fred Bernthal is here today to discuss what that group is doing. Next, it is important to remember that throughout the last year, in numerous Congressional hearings, Administration officials have based the President's inaction on this issue on a desire to postpone decisions on appropriate action until the IPCC scientific assessment is completed. Well, the executive summary of that scientific assessment has been released, and it officially states that the problem is indeed serious, and that stabilizing the level of most greenhouse gases at current levels in the atmosphere will require emissions reductions of 60% or more. Furthermore, it states that the buildup of greenhouse gases will lead to temperature increases of 3 to 8 degrees Farenheit by the middle of the next century, and that tem perature increases in central North America-the American grainbelt-are predicted to be higher than the gloal average increase, accompanied on average by reduced summer precipitation and soil moisture. In other words, more heat and drought in the heart of America's agricultural sector. Finally, in explaining the significance of these latest actions, let me also note that it was at a January 1989 meeting of the Response Strategies Working Group of the IPCC before which Secretary of State James Baker stated ". we can probably not afford to wait until all of the uncertainties have been resolved before we do act. Time will not make the problem go away." Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher understands this fact. In a May 25th speech, she referred to the IPCC report on the science of climate change and stated that, ". . . greenhouse gases are increasing substantially as a result of man's activities; that this will warm the Earth's surface, with serious consequences for us all, and that these consequences are capable of prediction." Prime Minister Thatcher went on to say that, "if the Panel's predictions are broadly right, then the world could become hotter than at any time in the last 100,000 years and just to get our perspectives right, can I remind you that Abraham was around only 5,000 years ago!" As the reports of the IPCC working groups are being completed, the Administration is reportedly attempting to use its influence to exclude recommendations for action. The Administration's footdragging is becoming an embarrassment. It is shortsighted and just plain ridiculous. In country after country, policymakers and scientists, and government leaders recognize that we need to take action now. In our country, unfortunately, the President is spending incredible amounts of energy in cynically avoiding the important decisions that must be make. This issue demands leadership from the U.S. If we don't act today, the problems we face tomorrow will be insurmountable. Let me call our three witnesses now to the witness table: Dr. Robert Watson, Dr. Alan Hecht, and Dr. Fred Bernthal. Dr. Robert Watson is an atmospheric scientist from NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications. He is a frequent witness before this Committee and others. He was instrumental in determining the causes and extent of the Antarctica ozone hole, and was very involved in the scientific assessments and negotiations that led to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Dr. Watson and Dr. Daniel Albritton at NOAA are the official U.S. liaisons to the IPCC Working Group Number I. Dr. Alan Hecht is the Deputy Assistant Administrator for International Activities at EPA and is the official U.S. liaison to Working Group II of the IPCC, which is assessing the impacts of global warming. Dr. Fred Bernthal is Deputy Director of NSF. Before moving to NSF earlier this year, Dr. Bernthal was Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, International, Environmental and Scientific Affairs at the Department of State. A physicist by training, Dr. Bernthal serves as Chairman of Working Group III of the IPCC. And one of his most important biographical facts, is that he is a Tennessean, and we are delighted that you are here. Dr. Bernthal, we committed to try to get you in and out in time for you to get back to the important review going on at NSF. |