Obama, Clinton, Boxer join Kerry in asking White House to show leadership

WASHINGTON D.C. – Sen. John Kerry today sent a letter to President Bush, encouraging him to use this week’s international climate change meetings as an opportunity to announce support for a cap on greenhouse gas emissions. Kerry’s letter to the White House was signed by 20 Senators.

The full text of the letter is included below.

September 26, 2007

The President The White House Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We urge you to mark this week by announcing your support for a cap on domestic greenhouse gas emissions that will put us on the path to climate stabilization and pledge the United States’ full and unqualified support to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiation process.

This week’s United Nations high-level meeting marked the ceremonial opening of negotiations for a new treaty to succeed the Kyoto protocol, the first ever global agreement regulating greenhouse gases. Also this week, fifteen countries with the highest annual greenhouse gas emissions have come to Washington, at your invitation, for further conversations about national and international goals. Statements and decisions made in these meetings will begin to shape the direction of international policy on global warming for decades to come, and we believe it is in our national interest for the United States to lead and shape this effort rather than be left on the outside looking in.

In 1992, President George Herbert Walker Bush demonstrated great vision in engaging the United States in the Rio Earth Summit. It was an important first step. The 1992 Rio Accords established a long-term objective of stabilizing greenhouse concentrations and set a voluntary goal of reducing emissions from developed counties to 1990 levels by 2000. Sadly, we are long past the time for “first steps.” We face a ten-year window to take concrete and comprehensive action to address global greenhouse gas emissions. We are concerned that the approach you are advocating at the major emitters meeting sounds very much like the “pledge and review” concept that guided the Rio agreement. But most countries, including the United States, did not meet their Rio goals. In fact, the binding targets contained in the Kyoto Protocol were a response to the global realization that stronger measures were needed. And even in light of the Kyoto goals, United States emissions are projected to increase by about 14.3% during the first phase of the Kyoto protocol (2002 – 2012). Our experience shows that goals based on “emissions intensity” and voluntary arrangements have not worked and should not be exported into a future international regulatory framework.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made it clear that the world does not have time to delay effective action to reduce emissions. Regardless of any actions going forward, our emissions to date have already locked in warming of 0.6 degrees Celsius. The longer we wait to act, the less likely we will be able to reduce our emissions trajectory or adapt to the consequences of our actions. As we begin to construct the international agreement that will determine the future course of global emissions and associated impacts, we must keep this urgency in mind.

In order for this week’s meeting of the major economies to provide constructive input to the official international process, participating countries must agree on concrete goals. As the convening nation, it is our obligation to exhibit strong leadership. We encourage you to take this opportunity to set a firm national emission reduction target aligned with the goal of limiting warming to two degrees Celsius, as recommended by the world’s leading climate scientists.

As we approach the upcoming UN climate change meeting in Bali, it is critical that the United States reassert leadership and provide strong guidance in this critical multilateral effort. The nations of the world will be challenged to forge consensus on a schedule and a mandate for the post-Kyoto negotiations. Such an agreement will be difficult to achieve until the United States clearly indicates its intentions, and goes to work bringing other countries to the table with hard commitments.

As Senators, we will actively monitor the UNFCCC process, and we will work to make sure that climate policy in the United States strongly supports the global emission reduction effort. As the world’s leader as well as its largest historical emitter, the United States carries a singular responsibility to help mitigate the impacts of climate change. With the world’s eyes on us this week, we call on you make a specific commitment to the world to do our part.
Sincerely,

Senator John Kerry
Senator Jeff Bingaman
Senator Bernard Sanders
Senator Ron Wyden
Senator Maria Cantwell
Senator Robert Menendez
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Senator Joe Biden
Senator Joe Lieberman
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Senator Richard Durbin
Senator Robert Casey
Senator Barack Obama
Senator Patrick Leahy
Senator Barbara Boxer
Senator Bill Nelson
Senator Hillary R. Clinton
Senator Frank Lautenberg
Senator Russ Feingoldv Senator Jack Reed
Senator Chris Dodd