WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, issued the following statement regarding President Bush’s speech on global climate change, delivered today in the Rose Garden:  

 

            “In preparation for the Paris meeting this week on global climate change, President Bush gave an important speech today.  The President delivers on the promise to set specific targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  It is now time for all major emitters to follow our lead.  Relative to the rest of the world’s major emitters, including the European Union, America’s progress in reducing emissions over recent years has proven that actions on reducing emissions are more important than rhetoric, partisan politics, or mandatory caps. 

 

“As the debate on global climate change takes place in the Senate this year, I am very mindful that the American people are concerned about our nation’s economic condition, the rising cost of energy and job losses around the country.  Americans are also worried about our nation’s competitiveness with emerging economies like China and India.  Addressing global climate change by doing serious harm to our nation’s economy and by failing to provide for fair commitments from other major emitters is a plan for both economic and environmental disaster.  I was grateful to hear President Bush echo those concerns and warn Congress that policies which place America’s businesses at an unfair disadvantage are the wrong approach. 

 

“Now that China has passed the U.S. as the world’s leading emitter years before anticipated, I also applaud the President for recognizing the global nature of this challenge and the need for major emitters such as China and India to take steps to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions. 

 

“Intermediate and long-term goals are important to provide a vision, but development and deployment of clean energy technologies are necessary to achieve it.  That is why I introduced S. 2730, creating the Clean Energy Investment Bank of the United States.  This bill seeks to focus on domestic investment activities and to encourage the financing of clean energy projects.  The purpose of this bank would be to help reduce the overall cost of clean energy projects in order to facilitate their commercialization.  This legislation provides a strategy to strengthen economic growth, bring investment to the deployment of clean energy technology and address the dual challenges of strengthening our nation’s energy security and combating global climate change.

 

            “I encourage the White House to remain engaged in this issue as the debate picks up in the U.S. Senate.” 

 

 

 

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