 
Not only do I believe
that the targets set in Kyoto are doable, I believe that American industry
can do it ahead of schedule. We have a long tradition of developing new
and cost-effective pollution prevention technologies, and the President's
market-based trading programs and tax credits set the right note of balance
with our environmental and economic concerns.
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman
(D-CT)
U.S. Senate Committee
on Environment and Public Works
The risks associated
with human-induced climate change are significant and real. This is not
to say that important scientific uncertainties cease to exist on the extent
to which man is adversely influencing the climate system. Nevertheless,
an extraordinary number of independent scientists are asking us all to consider
these uncertainties in the context of what it would take to reverse climate-induced
environmental changes. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),
comprised of more than 2,000 climate and ecological experts, reported in
1995 that stabilization of atmospheric concentrations of long-lived greenhouse
gases could take decades to millennia. They also forecast that equilibration
of sea level could require centuries. Restoration of damaged or disturbed
ecological systems, including wildlife habitat, could take decades to centuries,
according to the IPCC. For me the key scientific message is the potential
longevity, and in some cases irreversibility of climate-induced environmental
changes.
Senator John H. Chafee
(R-RI)
Chairman, U.S. Senate
Committee on Environment and Public Works | 
