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Debate heats up about global warming
Latest developments:
October 3, 1997
- U.S. to propose binding limits
- Treaty expected from meeting in December
- Biggest economy means big influence
Web posted at: 10:49 p.m. EDT (0249 GMT)From Correspondent Ralph Begleiter
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The debate over limiting pollutants that cause global warming is intensifying as the Clinton administration prepares to propose emission standards for developed and underdeveloped countries alike.
The results could be a treaty with binding limits that could dramatically affect some of the world's smallest nations.
Curbing industrial emissions is a matter of some urgency on small islands. Their leaders fear that they could literally be swamped if global warming causes the oceans to rise by even a modest amount.
But the issue also raises temperatures in energy-intensive industries that make things like cement, aluminum and automobiles.
"If we attack any problem -- this or any other problem -- in a way that costs more, the price of everything we use, energy-wise, will be affected," said Gail McDonald, spokeswoman for an industry coalition.
At an environmental summit in 1992, most nations agreed to non-binding goals to limit the emissions thought to contribute to global warming. But they were goals which few nations have actually managed to meet.
Treaty expected from meeting in December
In December, however, there will be another meeting in Kyoto, Japan, and negotiators hope the result will be a worldwide agreement on binding emissions limits.
The Clinton Administration is expected to propose specific limits later this month, and American businesses are out campaigning to be sure their side of the issue is heard.
Their allies at the global level are less developed countries like India and China which hope to avoid the same pollution limits that would apply to industrialized nations.
"The gap between the developed and developing countries is still wide," said Kim Hyong U, a North Korean delegate to a United Nations conference in June.
The developing countries say their people should not be deprived of industrial-era conveniences such as cars, refrigeration and air conditioning. They suggest, instead, that the industrialized nations impose strict limits on themselves since they are responsible for most of the world's air pollution.
"Particular responsibility lies with developed countries which cause approximately 80 percent of the pollution on our planet," Croatian delegate Midas Hodak told the U.N. conference.
Biggest economy means big influence
But U.S. industrial leaders say that all nations should share the economic and social burdens.
"If it is a legally binding agreement that is only binding on the developed countries, we believe that would be bad for the U.S., both in terms of jobs and the economic vitality of this country," says Ford Motor Company CEO Alex Trotman.
But administration officials know that two-thirds of the emissions in the United States are produced by industries whose buildings and jobs cannot be moved abroad.
And because the United States has the world's largest industrial economy, diplomats say Washington's proposal for emission control targets will be especially influential when an agreement is negotiated in December.
Related stories:
- CNN criticized for dropping global-warming ad - October 3, 1997
- Watery disaster looms without emissions curbs, leaders warn - June 24, 1997
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