 |
TODAY Friday 27 June 1997 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site. |
newsroom
|
TODAY Friday 27 June 1997 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site. |
TODAY IN THE WORLD: Good Speech (Keep It Quiet)
It is in the political interest of the environmental movement to express disappointment at the President's speech yesterday before the United Nations. Unlike European leaders, and unlike many Members of Congress, Bill Clinton refused to quantify the limits on greenhouse gas emissions that he professes to want. And whatever the exact numbers, he said, such limits would have to be "realistic."
The disinclination to be precise rendered the speech "instant Pablum," in the words of Fred Krupp of the Environmental Defense Fund. The same disinclination -- called "a slightly more cautious approach" -- cheered the president of the misleadingly named Global Climate Coalition, the collection of hardline industries who fight emission reductions at every step. In public, I believe that speakers for environmentalism, like Fred Krupp, should find fault with the President and call upon him to assume more vigorous leadership.
Just among ourselves, however, I think it was a very good speech, historically important. Here's why:
1. The President of the United States said "The science is clear and compelling: We humans are changing the global climate." That is an extraordinarily unambiguous statement, and is the first such from Bill Clinton.
2. He recognized the costs of climate change: droughts, floods, disrupted agriculture, and -- most tellingly -- threats to public health. Bill Clinton knows that health anxieties rank high among the concerns of American voters and American politics; it was in the language of public health that two days ago he announced the new Clean Air Act regulations. He is preparing the way for the education and enlistment of public opinion.
3. He confessed, and apologized for, the dismal record of the United States after Rio. "We must do better, and we will."
4. He recognized, and identified personally with, the need for breakthroughs in energy-efficient technologies. It would be better, and more efficient, if America had a big carbon tax that would by itself provoke new technologies (if oil stays cheap, we push a rock uphill). But he can't say that in public, not yet, at least. What he did say was pretty good: "We must invest more in the technologies of the future." Moreover: "This is a challenge we must undertake immediately, and one in which I personally plan to play a critical role."
5. Rewind that tape: "I personally plan to play a critical role." Here is the voice of a second-term president anxious about his place in history. We know that he told the Chinese that the world could not be sustained if they chose the same technological path as the Americans. He has let his friends know that a revolution in American transportation is required. With our help -- which is to say brickbats, carrots, sticks, the full arsenal -- this man's historical vanity can be made immensely important.
6. He committed himself to do what he does best: convene and persuade. "In the United States, in order to do our part, we have to first convince the American people and the Congress that the climate change problem is real and imminent." He will convene a White House conference before the Kyoto treaty negotiations (when, at last, he will be compelled to put numbers on reduction levels) "...to lay the scientific facts before our people to understand that we must act, and to lay the economic facts there so that they will understand the benefits and the costs." Fair enough; we can't forget that whatever is signed in Kyoto has to be ratified by the Senate in 1998.
No one can tell us that the President took these steps merely from disinterested examination of the evidence. He was prodded by a loyal Vice President, buttressed by support for the environment discerned in polls and focus groups, and pushed by an environmental movement increasingly adept in the exertion of influence. But he's taking the steps and, just among us, it's very encouraging.
TODAY ON THE SITE
There's a new High Five on the site for anyone interested in how the macro-goals of sustainability play out in the micro-world of the places where we live. Check out Victoria Dompka's excellent new feature on Community Development for an introduction to the best Web resources on the subject.
This week's "Today" columns:
6/26: Bleeping Joan of Arc
6/25: The World at 42nd Street
6/24: Il Faut Que Get a Grip
6/23: The Emily Dickinson Parking Garage
To access "Today" columns from previous weeks, click "Archives" below.