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Extremism: Earth in Balance Strategy
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Extremism: Earth in Balance Strategy
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Records of the Council on Environmental Quality (Clinton Administration)
Kathleen McGinty's Files
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FOIA Number: 2012-0769-F
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
Presidential Library Staff.
Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
Subgroup/Office of Origin:
Council on Environmental Quality
Series/Staff Member:
Kathleen (Katie) McGinty
Subseries:
OA/ID Number:
2890
FolderID:
Folder Title:
Extremism: Earth in Balance Strategy
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
S
61
5
10
3
ESERVATION WES ERVATION
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S.A.
EXTREMISM: EARTH IN THE BALANCE
THE MESSAGE
SOUND BITES
O We have a hole in the Ozone layer over Antarctica the size
of North America, caused by CFCs. Even the chemical industry
supports the phaseout of CFCs.
O Our opponents have referred to me as and "environmental
extremist. If that means that I point out the fact that the U.S.
is facing extremely grave problems in
[add
details] and that the Bush-Quayle Administration has been extremely
inactive in providing global leadership on environmental
issues
then I proudly accept that moniker.
ATTACKS ON QUAYLE
ATTACKS ON GORE/RESPONSES
o ATTACK: You have argued in your book and many speeches
that the U.S. should make a major effort to address global
environmental issues such as climate change. There are many more
immediate environmental and economic issues of concern to Americans
and others in the world. Why should this controversial problem
with its high cost and long time horizon be on the agenda?
RESPONSE: First of all, despite the discussion over
details, our addition of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere at an
accelerating rate is not sustainable. As with so many other
environmental problems such as ozone depletion and air and
water-pollution we will at some point be forced to curtail our
emissions, it will be far less disruptive to society if we do that
sooner rather than later - in fact much that we need to do to curb
emissions such as more efficient energy use will actually improve
our economic well being.
Second, the long term nature of the problem simply means that like
the national debt, our failure to act now is simply pushing the
problem onto our children and grandchildren. This is hardly
supportive of any set of family values that I wish to support.
o ATTACK: You advocate a whole set of measures to improve
energy efficiency in the US, wouldn't your proposals undermine the
economic recovery by raising energy prices and mandating
technological changes through increased regulation?
RESPONSE: One of the main reasons the U.S. economy is such
bad shape is because of the inefficiency with which we use energy.
Just contrast our economic growth over the past 12 years with that
of our European and Japanese trading partners who have prospered
while using only half the energy per unit of GNP as we have.
Within the U.S. economy, one of the few industries that has been a
consistent net export earner has been the chemical companies that
dramatically improves their energy efficiency since the oil embargo
of 1973, while less efficient industries like auto manufacturing
have languished, something like 10 to 15 per cent of the national
debt ($40 to $50 billion annually) is directly attributable to
energy subsidies. This plus subsidies to road transportation that
rival the defense budget (an estimated $300 billion, WRI) have
distorted the economy, been a major contributor to our trade
deficit and made us vulnerable to foreign oil disruption. Let us
remember that a major contributor to the collapse of the Soviet
economy was its even heavier subsidy of its energy industry.
Again, we must think longer term and chart a new course on energy
use that will benefit both the economy and the environment.
O ATTACK: But Senator, won't the cure that you propose to
address environmental problems be worse than the disease? In the
1988 campaign, President Bush argued that it has been cheap energy
that has built the US economy, and Vice President Quayle, through
the Competitive Council, has tried to insure that environmental
regulations will not be too burdensome to the economy. Your
approach is to move in quite another direction. Can you demonstrate
why your approach is better than theirs?
RESPONSE: The entire approach of the Reagan-Bush and
Bush-Quayle administrations to the environment has been short
sighted. While it is certainly true that poorly constructed
environmental regulations can be a drag on the economy, it is
increasingly the case that the policies of the past twelve years
have saddled the economy with enormous costs and undermined the
functioning of many free natural processes upon which we depend.
The legacy of hazardous waste from industry and the defense
industry probably exceeds the cost of the savings and loan scandal,
and some sites may be impossible to clean up. What we are talking
about is moving toward an economy in which such problems are
prevented from occurring in the first place, rather than leaving to
them others in future generations.
What this administration refuses to recognize is that today,
approximately 5 million Americans are employed in supplying
environmental goods and service to the U.S. economy and a global
market. In Massachusetts alone, some 1,200 environmental firms
have been identified by the Environmental Business Council and they
form the backbone of that state's export policy. We would like to
see the number of environmental and efficient energy jobs increase
as America becomes the world leader just as it has in computers,
software, and biotechnology. If we do it right, this increase in
jobs and economic wealth need not involve just cleaning up our
mistakes of the past, but will provide us with a truly sustainable
economic future. The Clinton-Gore Administration will assist the
economic transition as we scale back military production and make
the needed changes in our other industries through job training and
investment tax policies.
BUSH-QUAYLE FACTS