S. Hrg. 107-153 S. 1008-THE CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGY AND TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION ACT OF 2001 HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON S. 1008 TO AMEND THE ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 1992 TO DEVELOP THE UNITED STATES CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE STRATEGY WITH THE GOAL OF STABILIZATION OF GREENHOUSE GAS CONCENTRATIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE AT A LEVEL THAT WOULD PREVENT DANGEROUS ANTHROPOGENIC INTERFERENCE WITH THE CLIMATE SYSTEM, WHILE MINIMIZING ADVERSE SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACTS, ALIGNING THE STRATEGY WITH UNITED STATES ENERGY POLICY, AND PROMOTING A SOUND NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, TO ESTABLISH A RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM THAT FOCUSES ON BOLD TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGHS THAT MAKE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS TOWARD THE GOAL OF STABILIZATION OF GREENHOUSES GAS CONCENTRATIONS, TO ESTABLISH THE NATIONAL OFFICE OF CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE WITHIN THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES JULY 18, 2001 Printed for the use of the Committee on Governmental Affairs 75-474 PDF U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman CARL LEVIN, Michigan DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware FRED THOMPSON, Tennessee PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico JOYCE A. RECHTSCHAFFEN, Staff Director and Counsel TIMOTHY H. PROFETA, Legislative Counsel to Senator Lieberman Hon. Robert C. Byrd, a U.S. Senator from the State of West Virginia 49 11 Eileen Claussen, President, Pew Center on Global Climate Change James A. Edmonds, Ph.D., Senior Staff Scientist, Pacific Northwest National Page APPENDIX Statement entitled "The Future Course of the International Climate Change Negotiations," printed in the Congressional Record on May 4, 2001, submitted by Senator Byrd Statement entitled "Climate Change Strategy and Technology Innovation Act Article from The Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2001, entitled "Scientists' Prepared statement of John P. Holdren, Professor, Kennedy School of Govern- Prepared statement of David G. Hawkins, Director, NRDC Climate Center, Copy of S. 1008 112 114 118 120 125 134 144 S. 1008-THE CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGY AND TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION ACT OF 2001 WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 2001 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m., in room SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Joseph Lieberman, Chairman of the Committee, presiding. Present: Senators Lieberman, Thompson, Stevens, Voinovich, Collins, and Bennett. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN LIEBERMAN Chairman LIEBERMAN. The hearing will come to order. I welcome our witnesses and our guests this morning. I would like to thank them for joining us to present testimony regarding the Climate Change Strategy and Technology Innovation Act of 2001, which has been introduced by our colleagues, Senators Byrd and Stevens. In the long term, I think there is no greater environmental challenge facing the United States and the world than global climate change. It is also a most complicated international matter, to devise an appropriate response. Two recent scientific reports, one by the United Nations and the second by the National Academy of Sciences, confirmed some of the worst fears about climate change. These reports conclude that the Earth is warming; that the warming is caused by human activities; and that, unless we reverse this trend, we will face dire consequences, including rising sea levels, widespread drought, the spread of diseases associated with warmer weather, and an increase in extreme weather events. Most everyone agrees that there is a problem and on the need for a strong response, except frankly some here in the United States. One need only look to Genoa and Bonn, where thousands of protesters are gathering to demonstrate against President Bush's decision to walk away from the Kyoto Protocol, to appreciate the depth of conviction associated with this problem of global warming and the extent to which the United States has now separated itself from most of the rest of the world on this subject. Personally, I feel that we need an international agreement with binding targets and timetables for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I say that because in the aftermath of the Rio Treaty, which the Senate ratified on October 15, 1992, which set out a series of targets and timetables that were meant to be voluntarily complied |