November 9, 1998
The President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500Dear Mr. President:
I understand that you are considering signing the Kyoto Protocol to the United nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992 this week, during the Fourth Conference of Parties in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I urge you not to do so.
Signing the Kyoto protocol now would be contrary to the plain language of Senate resolution 98 cosponsored by sixty-five Senators and passed by a unanimous vote of 95-0 on July 25, 1997. The consensus of the Senate since that date remains that the United States should not be a signatory to the Kyoto protocol until and unless that agreement also mandates new specific scheduled commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions by developing country parties within the same compliance period. Additionally, the Resolution states that the Senate should be provided with a detailed explanation of any legislation or regulatory actions that may be required to implement the Protocol. The Senate's position has not changed since the resolution was passed almost sixteen months ago, and those two conditions have not yet been met.
Further, I am unconvinced that signing the Kyoto Protocol would improve negotiating position vis-a-vis developing countries. I understand that some developing countries have claimed that the United States is not serious about global warming because we have not signed the Kyoto Protocol. But signing now, before the conditions outlined in S. Res. 98 have been met, is an empty gesture in that the Senate is unlikely to look favorably upon approving the protocol until they are met. Signing now simply puts greater pressure on the Administration to support a Protocol that does not meet the conditions set out in S. Res. 98. Signing now implies a commitment to the protocol that may undermine out future leverage with the biggest emitters in the developing world.
I believe your Administration may be in stronger negotiating position to encourage the developing world's biggest emitters, like China, to sign on to scheduled, binding commitments if negotiators can say, accurately, that no U.S. participation is possible to address this global problem until the developing nations also make a commitment.
On a domestic note, some members of Congress have voiced concern over the past year that the Administration might be attempting to implement the Kyoto Protocol through a "regulatory backdoor" in advance of Senate approval of the Protocol. I worked hard the past year to modify very stringent bill and report language included in several appropriations bills so that ongoing, voluntary programs that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as promote other domestic energy goals could be funded. Signing the Protocol now would lend credence to those Members' concerns, and could jeopardize continued funding for even those existing programs. These ongoing, voluntary programs are important in helping to reduce the future economic burdens of U.S.> participation in the Kyoto protocol, in the event that the United States eventually does ratify the treaty.
I believe that global warming is a serious problem that needs and deserves to be addressed in a serious, evenhanded and global manner. But I do not agree that the United States should consider signing on to a one-sided Protocol that will not, in its present form, do more than plug the holes in one end of a leaky global boat, while leaving the biggest emitters of the developing world free to drill more holes in the other end of the boat. The net result is the same -- we all sink.
I urge you, therefore, to resist making empty gestures that will only make the potential future approval of the Protocol by the Senate more difficult.
With kind regards, I am
Sincerely,
Robert C. Byrd
RCB:lwt
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