COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA, THE PACIFIC, AND THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515

Donald A. Manzullo (IL-16), Ranking Member

Opening Statement

February 27, 2008

Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing on the future of climate change and its impact on small island states in the South Pacific. Addressing global pollution, which includes climate change, is an issue that deserves more attention than it currently receives. We often focus too much on greenhouse gas emissions to the exclusion of other harmful forms of air pollutants.

Fighting the causes and impact of global pollution requires the determined leadership of the major polluting economies regardless of size or development level. If the goal is to encourage countries to make commitments to cleaning the environment, then we should consider as many diplomatic tools and modalities as appropriate for this purpose. For example, in addition to global multilateral initiatives, one should consider more targeted regional and sub-regional approaches as well. As we have seen in trade talks, agreements on a global scale are very difficult to achieve while smaller compacts are much easier to conclude.

The Administration’s current action plan on climate change follows the framework which I just described. In addition to pursuing a global agreement through the United Nations to replace the Kyoto Protocol, the Administration is also proactively engaged in the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate and the Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change. The Asia-Pacific Partnership includes Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, and Korea in addition to the United States. In addition, the Major Economies Meeting initiative includes another 17 countries from across the world. Together these two regional mechanisms will bolster the broader the United Nations process while making a real difference now. To me, this triple approach to combating global pollution makes sense.

However, no matter how hard we endeavor to achieve meaningful progress on pollution or climate, our efforts are diminished if major polluting countries do not join in the effort. The Kyoto Protocol suffered from this fatal flaw. I note that in the new Bali Action Plan, the negotiators agreed to take into account the “principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and taking into account social and economic conditions” as part of a future agreement. Mr. Chairman, this sounds to me as yet another attempt to exempt major polluters like China and India from doing what is necessary to stop pollution. So, I hope the next Administration, which will be responsible for finishing the negotiations, will not cede ground on this important issue.

Mr. Chairman, my goal is to argue for a broader approach to fighting climate change to include all forms of global pollution. We spend too much time and waste energy debating climate change but achieve too little progress. The United States must stand for a comprehensive approach to fighting pollution that takes practical steps to actually better our environment. We all know by now that mercury used overseas in mining bleeds into our oceans and ends up in the fish that we eat. We have also witnessed the grim result of uncontrolled pollution by Chinese manufacturers and the effect that has had on millions of Chinese people. Unfortunately, all the attention to curbing greenhouse gasses does nothing to solve these equally pressing pollution problems.

I look forward to hearing from our distinguished witnesses for their suggestions in this regard.