[GBlist] Climate Treaty/ CO2 / Arsenic cuts <FYI>

["Bion D. Howard" <bdhoward@ix.netcom.com>]

For those of you who enjoyed Bill Moyers report on Monday...

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>>>>
> U.S. Won't Implement Climate Treaty 
>
> March 28, 2001 
>
> By JOHN HEILPRIN
> Associated Press Writer
>
> WASHINGTON (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation - 
>
> The Bush administration has no plans to
> implement the climate treaty negotiated in
> Kyoto, Japan, because it's clear Congress won't
> ratify it anyway, the chief of the Environmental
> Protection Agency said Tuesday. 
>
> ``We have no interest in implementing that
> treaty,'' EPA Administrator Christy Whitman told
> reporters, although she said the president
> continues to believe that global warming is an
> issue of concern. 
>
> She said the administration will remain
> ``engaged'' in international negotiations on ways
> to address climate change. But it was unclear
> what position the administration intends to take
> to the next United Nations meeting on the Kyoto
> accords, scheduled for this summer. 
>
> Whitman repeatedly noted that the Senate
> voted 95-0 against the United States taking any
> action on climate change unless developing
> countries also take some measures to reduce
> heat-trapping ``greehouse'' gases, which are
> mainly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. 
>
> The Kyoto agreement calls for industrial nations
> to reduce emissions _ at least for the time being.
> The United States would be required to cut
> emissions about a third by 2012. 
>
> Bush on a number of occasions has expressed his
> opposition to the Kyoto accord, which the
> Clinton administration had viewed as essential to
> dealing with the risks of climate change. 
>
> Whitman noted that no other industrial country
> has ratified the agreement. ``We are not the
> only ones who have problems with it,'' Whitman
> said. 
>
> Three weeks ago, Whitman in a memo urged
> Bush to continue to recognize global warming as
> a serious concern, arguing that to back away
> from the issue would be damaging both
> domestically and internationally. 
>
> ``Mr. President, this is a credibility issue for the
> U.S. in the international community. It is also an
> issue that is resonating here at home,'' she
> wrote in the March 6 memo. ``We need to
> appear engaged.'' 
>
> The memo came a week before Bush announced
> he would not endorse legislation regulating
> carbon dioxide, reversing a position he had taken
> during his presidential campaign. 
>
> On Thursday, Whitman defended the memo. 
>
> ``My job as the administrator of the
> Environmental Protection Agency and as a
> member of the Cabinet is to provide the
> president with my best take and what I think is
> in his best interest,'' she said. 
>
> ``He has the broad picture and he needs to
> make a decision based on all the factors that he
> sees that I don't take into account as the
> administrator of the EPA,'' she continued. ``I am
> fully comfortable with his decision on this.'' 
>
> Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., a leading advocate
> of the need to address global warming, said that
> the White House had undermined Whitman. 
>
> He said, ``The question is being asked: Does
> she speak for the administration, and will she be
> able to enforce environmental laws and seek
> others where necessary?'' 
>
>
> #        #        #
<<<<

In Balance, Ms Whitman appears continuing to try and talk some sense into Administration...

>>>>
> US EPA chief urged Bush not to break
> pledge on cutting emissions 
>
> March 28, 2001 
>
> Washington, March 27 (AP) - Environmental
> Protection Agency chief Christie Whitman told
> President Bush a week before he broke a
> campaign promise to reduce carbon dioxide
> emissions that such a move would undermine this
> country's world reputation, The Washington Post
> said. 
>
> The warning came in a March 6 memo in which
> Whitman wrote, "I would strongly recommend
> that you continue to recognize global warming is
> a real and serious issue," the newspaper said in
> Tuesday's editions. 
>
> "Mr. President, this is a credibility issue for the
> U.S. in the international community," the memo
> added. "It is also an issue that is resonating here
> at home. We need to appear engaged." 
>
> One week after the memo, Bush announced he
> would not seek the carbon dioxide reductions.
> Carbon dioxide is a gas that scientists say is a
> major factor in the earth's rising temperatures. 
>
> Those who have worked with Whitman on the
> issue of global warming said she was undermined
> by the decision. 
>
> "I respect Christie enormously, but I think the
> administration undermined her," said Sen. John F.
> Kerry, D-Mass., a leading advocate of the need
> to address global warming. "The question is being
> asked: Does she speak for the administration,
> and will she be able to enforce environmental
> laws and seek others where necessary?" 
>
> Whitman refused to comment Monday to the
> Post. Her spokesman said the memo was a
> confidential correspondence between Whitman
> and the president, and that she would not be
> willing to discuss it. 
>
> However, interviewed Tuesday on ABC's "Good
> Morning America," Whitman said she does not
> believe her credibility has been undermined. 
>
> "He said global climate change is an issue in
> which we need to be engaged internationally,"
> Whitman said of Bush. "He is very committed to
> that decision. ... The international community
> understands that." 
>
> She also defended Bush's decision to roll back a
> Clinton administration regulation that would have
> reduced from 50 parts per billion to 10 parts per
> billion the amount of arsenic allowed in drinking
> water. "The previous administration didn't take
> the time to fully understand the impact of this
> decision in those areas of the country where you
> have a great deal of naturally occurring arsenic,"
> Whitman said. 
>
> The reduction would not have taken effect until
> 2006, she said. "We will have a new standard by
> 2006 (and) it will certainly be well below 50"
> parts per billion. 
>
> #        #        #
<<<<




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