Volume 144, No. 56 covering the 2nd Session of the 105th Congress (1997 - 1998) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE AMERICAN ECONOMY PROTECTION ACT” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E790-E791 on May 7, 1998.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE AMERICAN ECONOMY PROTECTION ACT
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HON. JOE KNOLLENBERG
of michigan
in the house of representatives
Thursday, May 7, 1998
Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, today I joined my colleagues, JoAnne Emerson and Ron Klink, to introduce a bill to protect the economy of the United States. Specifically, this bill will prohibit the use of federal funds for any implementation of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change until Senate ratification. This bill is companion language to Senator Ashcroft's bill S. 2019.
The Kyoto Protocol requires the United States to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to seven percent below 1990 levels by 2008-
2012. Other industrialized nations must meet a similarly strict timetable. Meanwhile, the Kyoto Protocol exempts 132 developing nations, including China, India, Brazil, and Mexico, from any greenhouse gas reduction, even though these four nations alone are expected to emit half of the world's greenhouse gases by the year 2050. This creates a two-tiered environmental obligation, forcing the entire burden to reduce greenhouse emissions on industrialized nations while turning the developing world into a pollution enterprise zone. This won't eliminate greenhouse gases, or succeed in reversing global warming, it will just change their point of production.
American families receive the brunt of the burden imposed by the Kyoto Protocol. The Wharton Econometric Forecasting Associates (WEFA), a well respected economic firm, has estimated the Kyoto Protocol would result in Americans paying 50 cents more for a gallon of gasoline and more than $2,000 per American household. WEFA also estimates the Protocol could result in the United States losing over a million jobs each year over a 15 year period.
Even the Clinton Administration, strong supporters of the Kyoto Protocol, admit it could add $70 to $110 to the average American household's annual energy bill. And these estimates were based on several highly optimistic assumptions by White House economists.
Furthermore, the United States Department of Energy studied the impact the Kyoto Protocol will have on six major manufacturing industries. Results indicate that the Kyoto targets and timetables to limit greenhouse gas emissions are tantamount to pink slips for the American worker. Studying petroleum refining, pulp and paper making, cement, steel, basic chemicals, and aluminum, the Department of Energy forecasts hundreds of thousands of American jobs lost and the suppliers for these materials moving to developing nations. Again, worldwide emissions won't be reduced, they will be shipped overseas, just like American jobs.
The U.S. Constitution confers on the Senate the responsibility to evaluate a treaty on its merits and then to give or withhold its advice and consent. As an indicator of where the Senate stands on this issue, last year the Senate passed S. Res. 98 by a vote of 95-0, expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States should not sign onto any treaty placing America at a competitive disadvantage during the climate change negotiations in Kyoto, Japan.
In Kyoto, the Clinton Administration completely ignored the Senate position, and did exactly the opposite. Now, there is wide concern that the Administration is working proactively to implement the Kyoto targets through regulatory fiat. Part of this stems from the Environmental Protection Agency indicating its plan to draft new Clean Air rules enacting portions of the Kyoto Protocol.
The American Economy Protection Act will insure that the Kyoto Protocol is not implemented through the regulatory process. The Founding Fathers in their infinite wisdom provided that the Senate should be a check and balance on international treaties through the ratification process. This bill maintains the integrity of the U.S. Constitution and supports continued economic growth in the United States. I urge your support of this bill.
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