[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 98 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]
105th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 98
[Report No. 105-54]
Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the conditions for the
United States becoming a signatory to any international agreement on
greenhouse gas emissions under the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 25, 1997
Mr. Byrd (for himself, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Hollings, Mr. Craig, Mr. Inouye,
Mr. Warner, Mr. Ford, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Helms, Mr. Levin, Mr.
Roberts, Mr. Abraham, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Brownback, Mr.
Kempthorne, Mr. Thurmond, Mr. Burns, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Glenn, Mr. Enzi,
Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Bond, Mr. Coverdell, Mr. DeWine, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr.
Gorton, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Cleland, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Hutchinson,
Mr. Johnson, Ms. Landrieu, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Nickles, Mr. Santorum, Mr.
Shelby, Mr. Smith of Oregon, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Faircloth, Mr. Frist, Mr.
Grassley, Mr. Allard, Mr. Murkowski, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Coats, Mr. Cochran,
Mr. Domenici, Mr. Gramm, Mr. Grams, Mr. Lott, Ms. Moseley-Braun, Mr.
Robb, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Smith of New Hampshire, Mr.
Specter, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Reid, Mr. Bryan, Mr. Thompson, and
Mr. Campbell) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Foreign Relations
July 21, 1997
Reported by Mr. Helms, without amendment
July 25, 1997
Considered and agreed to
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the conditions for the
United States becoming a signatory to any international agreement on
greenhouse gas emissions under the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change.
Whereas the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (in this
resolution referred to as the ``Convention''), adopted in May 1992,
entered into force in 1994 and is not yet fully implemented;
Whereas the Convention, intended to address climate change on a global basis,
identifies the former Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern Europe
and the Organization For Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),
including the United States, as ``Annex I Parties'', and the remaining
129 countries, including China, Mexico, India, Brazil, and South Korea,
as ``Developing Country Parties'';
Whereas in April 1995, the Convention's ``Conference of the Parties'' adopted
the so-called ``Berlin Mandate'';
Whereas the ``Berlin Mandate'' calls for the adoption, as soon as December 1997,
in Kyoto, Japan, of a protocol or another legal instrument that
strengthens commitments to limit greenhouse gas emissions by Annex I
Parties for the post-2000 period and establishes a negotiation process
called the ``Ad Hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate'';
Whereas the ``Berlin Mandate'' specifically exempts all Developing Country
Parties from any new commitments in such negotiation process for the
post-2000 period;
Whereas although the Convention, approved by the United States Senate, called on
all signatory parties to adopt policies and programs aimed at limiting
their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in July 1996 the Undersecretary of
State for Global Affairs called for the first time for ``legally
binding'' emission limitation targets and timetables for Annex I
Parties, a position reiterated by the Secretary of State in testimony
before the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate on January 8,
1997;
Whereas greenhouse gas emissions of Developing Country Parties are rapidly
increasing and are expected to surpass emissions of the United States
and other OECD countries as early as 2015;
Whereas the Department of State has declared that it is critical for the Parties
to the Convention to include Developing Country Parties in the next
steps for global action and, therefore, has proposed that consideration
of additional steps to include limitations on Developing Country
Parties' greenhouse gas emissions would not begin until after a protocol
or other legal instrument is adopted in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997;
Whereas the exemption for Developing Country Parties is inconsistent with the
need for global action on climate change and is environmentally flawed;
Whereas the Senate strongly believes that the proposals under negotiation,
because of the disparity of treatment between Annex I Parties and
Developing Countries and the level of required emission reductions,
could result in serious harm to the United States economy, including
significant job loss, trade disadvantages, increased energy and consumer
costs, or any combination thereof; and
Whereas it is desirable that a bipartisan group of Senators be appointed by the
Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate for the purpose of
monitoring the status of negotiations on Global Climate Change and
reporting periodically to the Senate on those negotiations: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) the United States should not be a signatory to any
protocol to, or other agreement regarding, the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992, at negotiations
in Kyoto in December 1997, or thereafter, which would--
(A) mandate new commitments to limit or reduce
greenhouse gas emissions for the Annex I Parties,
unless the protocol or other agreement also mandates
new specific scheduled commitments to limit or reduce
greenhouse gas emissions for Developing Country Parties
within the same compliance period, or
(B) would result in serious harm to the economy of
the United States; and
(2) any such protocol or other agreement which would
require the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification
should be accompanied by a detailed explanation of any
legislation or regulatory actions that may be required to
implement the protocol or other agreement and should also be
accompanied by an analysis of the detailed financial costs and
other impacts on the economy of the United States which would
be incurred by the implementation of the protocol or other
agreement.
Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy of this
resolution to the President.
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