DOMENICI PLEASED WITH PRESIDENT’S CALL FOR ACCORD WITH CHINA AND INDIA ON CLIMATE ISSUES

April 4, 2007
03:06 PM
            WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, today praised President Bush for calling on China and India to be part of any solution to the climate change issue.
 
            At a Rose Garden news conference yesterday, Bush said that any action taken by the United States must include China and India as part of the solution.  That statement follows a letter Domenici sent to the President calling on the U.S. to collaborate with China on energy and climate change issues.
 
            Domenici has stated that he will not support climate change initiatives in the U.S. without a global agreement to curb carbon emissions that includes China and other developing nations as partners. 
 
President Bush’s statement:
 
 “…Whatever we do must be in concert with what happens internationally, because we could pass any number of measures that are now being discussed in the Congress, but unless there is an accord with China, China will produce greenhouse gases that will offset anything we do in a brief period of time. And so those are the principles that will guide our decision-making: How do you encourage new technology? How do you grow the economy? And how do you make sure that China [is] -- and India are a part of a rational solution?”
Senator Domenici’s statement:
           
 “I applaud the President for his focus on the global nature of this challenge.  The economic and environmental risks of a unilateral approach are too great.  Not only are China’s emissions at least equal to our own, there is a substantial likelihood that imposing restrictions on the American people will result in businesses moving to China.  The net result would be exporting American jobs without reducing worldwide emissions.  We would be placing our economy, our jobs, and our global competitiveness in peril.
“If we are really seeking to make a positive impact on our environment, we must make sure that China, India, and other developing nations are part of the solution now.”
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