April 05, 2001

CONGRESSWOMAN LEE INTRODUCES CO2 GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE RESOLUTION

Washington, DC - Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) today joined fellow members of Congress and leading environmental and religious groups to announce the introduction of the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions and Global Climate Change Act of 2001.

The Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions and Global Climate Change Act of 2001 expresses the sense of Congress that the U.S. should develop, promote and implement policies to reduce emissions of fossil fuel generated carbon dioxide with the goal of achieving stabilization of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States at the 1990 level by the year 2010.

"This resolution will send a strong message to the President and the country that Congress will hold Mr. Bush to his campaign
pledge, that it recognizes that global warming poses grave dangers to our environment, our economy, and our national security, and that this country must seek to reduce its CO2 emissions," said Lee. "This resolution represents the first step in restoring our national and international commitments to a cleaner environment."

The United States is the largest producer of fossil-fuel generated CO2 emissions in the world. European leaders and others have strongly condemned President Bush's declaration that the Kyoto Protocol on Global Warming is "dead." In addition to the long-term effects on the climate itself, the apparent U.S. withdrawal from the principles of the Kyoto Protocol and the Framework Agreement is having a dire impact on U.S. relations with Europe. Moreover, the failure of the United States to take the lead in this issue will decrease incentives among industrializing nations to limit emissions or seek out cleaner power sources.

"It seems that President Bush believes that a salmonella burger washed down with a glass of arsenic laden water is a healthy
meal for our children. If it's done while contracting melanoma from an ever-increasing hole in the ozone layer, it must be the ideal picnic," said Lee. "A majority of Americans disagree with the President's environmental policy, and so do I. We must take the lead in protecting the environment and securing a livable world for future generations."

The Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions and Global Climate Change Act has over forty original co-sponsors and has been
endorsed by the National Environmental Trust, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the World Wildlife Fund, CALPIRG, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, NETWORK, the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, and the Sierra Club.

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