WASHINGTON - Calling this month's Southern heat wave the latest symptom of global warming, President Clinton accused Congress on Saturday of negligence in not addressing the matter and ordered energy-saving measures in all federal buildings.
"Despite mounting evidence, [Congress) would deny the science and ignore the warning signs," the president said in his weekly radio address.
"Rather than invest in a common-sense strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they want to cut programs for energy efficiency and renewable energy," he said.
"Global warming is real; the risks it poses are real." Clinton added. "The sooner Congress understands that, the sooner we can protect our nation - and our planet - from increased flood, fire, drought and deadly heat waves."
Clinton has asked Congress for $6.3 billion in research and tax incentives over the next five years to encourage the private sector to cooperate in improving energy efficiency, generating clean power and reducing greenhouse gases.
The president said El Nino is most directly to blame for this year's most severe weather.
"But growing evidence suggests that the extreme and erratic weather we're seeing in America and around the world is being intensified by global warming," he said.
Clinton said he directed federal agencies to take greater advantage of a program in which they work with contractors to retrofit federal buildings with energy-saving technologies.
Clinton also is ordering federal facilities to replace hundreds of thousands of incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient fluorescent lights.
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