John W. Olver: “Mr. Chairman, I agree, as the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) has already said, that no rules, no regulations that…”

“Mr. Chairman, I agree, as the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) has already said, that no rules, no regulations that relate directly to the implementation of the Kyoto Protocols should be done in any direct way prior to the ratification of that treaty. But all his amendment does is make certain that all activities that are presently authorized by law in various other places will not be stopped on the basis of their having some implication for or some imagined implication for the Kyoto Protocols at some time. Climate change and global warming are terms that we have heard a lot about recently. We know that there has been an enormous change in the ozone layer, a huge gap in the ozone layer that has left the whole continent of Australia in a position where they have to move heavily clothed, or at least they are advised to do so, because there is not that protection against radiation that has been with this planet for all of human existence. Mr. Chairman, we also know, as the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich) pointed out, that some of the hottest summers in the last six centuries have occurred. My figure might be slightly different, but I think at least six of the 10 hottest years in this century have been within this decade. This is a trend that is going on as we speak.”