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WWF Says Fossil Fuel Industry Wrong On Greenhouse Gasses

smoke stacks July 26th, 1997

UNITED NATIONS, New York-- WWF* today expressed grave concerns about the Clinton administration's apparent shift from short- to long-term targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming and are already threatening nature and wildlife around the world.

Statements this week by senior US administration environmental staff, including Tim Wirth, Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs, indicate the White House may have succumbed to fossil fuel industry lobbying groups that are trying to stall government action to combat climate change.

The US has already announced it will not meet its 1992 Rio Earth Summit commitment to reduce greenhouse gases that cause global warming. In his address to the United Nations Earth Summit in New York this week, WWF now expects President Clinton to emphasize long-term goals for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in order to deflect attention from the administration's refusal to endorse near-term reductions in harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Early action is vital to prevent further dangerous impacts on the environment from climate change.

"WWF fears that fossil fuel industry scare tactics have forced the Clinton administration to abandon a leadership role in international negotiations to combat climate change," said Dr. Claude Martin, Director General, WWF-International. "A current multi-million dollar misinformation media campaign by fossil fuel interests claims that an international climate treaty would result in serious harm to the US economy. Such claims ignore recent findings to the contrary by some 2,500 economists, including several US Nobel laureates, published by Redefining Progress in San Francisco."

WWF believes that although climate change is a long-term problem, early action to significantly address its causes makes good economic sense. Waiting decades before acting will result in greater damage to the environment from global warming. In fact, delaying action will only:

  • Increase abatement costs as the world continues to invest in a polluting infrastructure.

  • Raise the cost of remedial action by slowing the development of innovative and clean technologies.

  • Cause greater environmental and economic harm to the planet from the impacts of climate change.
WWF is calling for world governments to take decisive action now to pave the way for a strong agreement at the international climate change summit in Kyoto, Japan in December.

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For more information contact: Liz Foley in New York at cellular phone:1 917 853 2761. Hotel: 1 212 986 8800. Gisele McAuliffe in New York, cellular phone: 1 202-531-0395 or Washington D.C. voice mail: 1 202 861 8369.

*WWF is known as World Wildlife Fund in Canada and the United States of America