Political Quotes

“In fact, in July of 1997, before the Kyoto Protocol was agreed to, the U.S. Senate passed what they called the Byrd-Hagel resolution, which says that the U.S. should not be signing any treaty that, one, would mandate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions for developed countries but not developing countries; and, two, would result in a serious economic harm to the Nation. And of course the Kyoto Protocol moves in both of these directions. It does not include countries for any reduction, such as China, India, Mexico, Brazil, and many other developing countries. It seems to me this common sense resolution, which was approved by a Senate vote of 95 to 0, set the minimal parameters for Senate ratification of any treaty. And with no realistic idea that a treaty was going to be signed and eventually ratified by the Senate, which it has to be ratified for it to work, the Bush administration said let us move ahead and make sure we reduce our CO2 emissions, reduce our greenhouse gases, but let us be very careful about signing on to a treaty that is demanding almost the impossible.”