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