Senate Committee Passes Climate Change Resolution

Source: Waste News
May 31, 2006

SYNOPSIS: The resolution declares that the United States has the capability to lead the effort to stop global climate change and calls for international negotiations under the United Nations framework on global climate change issues.

May 25 -- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a bipartisan resolution expressing the Senate´s belief that the United States must address global climate change through the negotiation of fair and effective international commitments.

The resolution would represent a major restatement of the Senate´s position on international climate treaties, said Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., one of the resolution´s sponsors. The measure calls global warming a threat to international stability as well as a risk to the environment and the nation´s economy.

"The scientific evidence is clear," Biden said. "We need to take significant steps toward worldwide reduction of greenhouse gases to avoid permanently altering our climate."

Committee Chairman Dick Lugar, R-Idaho, co-sponsored the resolution.

The resolution declares that the United States has the capability to lead the effort to stop global climate change and calls for international negotiations under the United Nations framework on global climate change issues.

The committee passed the resolution May 23. On the same day, the committee approved a measure to increase cooperation with India to stimulate development of alternative fuels and develop and deploy technologies that promote the clean use of coal, while reducing oil dependency.

Both measures are being forwarded to the full Senate for its consideration.