Remarks on Antarctica and Climate Change, in Christchurch, New Zealand September 15, 1999

Administration of William J. Clinton, 1999 / Sept. 15 current energy trajectory—which entails higher National Science and Technology Council, as consumer costs, greater regional pollution, more recommended by PCAST. The working group pronounced climate disruption, and increasing should build on the PCAST report and assess risks to energy security—is closing fast. Thus, the portfolio of programs underway in the Fed- we should act expeditiously on PCAST’s rec- eral agencies and develop a strategic vision, in- ommendations for strengthening capacities for cluding budget recommendations that can be energy technology innovation, promoting tech- considered in agency requests for FY 2001. nologies to limit energy demand and for a clean- Please commend John Holdren, the members er energy supply, and improving management of his panel, and all of PCAST for its fine report of the Federal international energy research and on this important matter. development portfolio. WILLIAM J. CLINTON As a first step, I direct you to form a working group on international energy research, develop- NOTE: This memorandum was released by the Of- ment, demonstration, and deployment under the fice of the Press Secretary on September 15. Remarks on Antarctica and Climate Change, in Christchurch, New Zealand September 15, 1999 Thank you very much. Good afternoon. Prime to fly home, and we will make the best job Minister Shipley, Burton and Anna and Ben; of it we can. and Sir Edmund Hillary and Lady Hillary; Am- bassadors Beeman and Bolger, and their wives; to Mayor Moore: Dr. Erb, Dr. Benton, Mr. Antarctica and Climate Change Mace, Dr. Colwell; to all of those who have Let me say I am particularly honored to be made our visit here so memorable: Let me here with Sir Edmund Hillary, referred to in begin on behalf of my family and my party our family as my second favorite Hillary. by thanking the officials and the people of New [Laughter] I read that, when Sir Edmund Zealand for giving us 5 absolutely glorious days turned 50, he resolved to do three things: to in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. build a house on the cliffs above the Tasman We are very grateful. Sea; to become a better skier; to do a grand traverse up the peaks of Mt. Cook. I’m won- Hurricane Floyd dering what he resolved to do when he turned I hope you will all indulge me just one mo- 80. I hear the All Blacks may have a new full- ment. This is my only chance to speak not only back. [Laughter] I wish you a happy 80th birth- to you but to the people of the United States day, sir, and I wish all of us might lead lives today. And since we’re here to talk about the half so full and productive as yours. weather, you should know that my country is I come here to this beautiful city and to this facing one of the most serious hurricanes ever place to deepen a partnership between the to threaten the United States, if the predictions United States and New Zealand that is already of its force and scope hold true. long and strong. In this century, young Ameri- This morning I signed an emergency declara- cans and New Zealanders have fought again and tion for the States of Florida and Georgia to again side by side to turn back tyranny and provide for assistance for emergency protective to defend democracy. We have worked together and preventive measures. I have been in close on peacekeeping missions. We have stood to- contact with our Vice President, Al Gore, and gether for expanded opportunity for our people our Director of Emergency Management, James through trade. We even let you borrow the Lee Witt. They are working around the clock America’s Cup from time to time. [Laughter] to prepare for the storm. I ask all of you here We hope to reverse our generosity shortly. to remember my fellow Americans, and after [Laughter] We are grateful for your friendship, we finish the state dinner tonight, I am going and we thank you for it. 1537 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 14:26 Sep 06, 2001 Jkt 010199 PO 00000 Frm 00441 Fmt 1240 Sfmt 1240 C:\TEMP\PAP_TEXT txed01 PsN: txed01 Sept. 15 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 1999 This magnificent center stands as a symbol The overwhelming consensus of world sci- of what we can accomplish when we work to- entific opinion is that greenhouse gases from gether, and I would argue is a symbol of what human activity are raising the Earth’s tempera- will be most important about our cooperation ture in a rapid and unsustainable way. The 5 in the 21st century. warmest years since the 15th century have all You heard Sir Edmund talk about his trip been in the 1990’s; 1998 was the warmest year across Antarctica. When he started it, some peo- ever recorded, eclipsing the record set just the ple called it the last great journey on Earth. year before, in 1997. As I was reading about it, I understand that Unless we change course, most scientists be- he actually overheard one farmer ask another, lieve the seas will rise so high they will swallow ‘‘That there Antarctica, how many sheep do they whole islands and coastal areas. Storms, like hur- run to the acre?’’ [Laughter] ricanes and droughts, both will intensify. Dis- But America believed in his mission and has eases like malaria will be borne by mosquitoes long been fascinated with Antarctica. Way back to higher and higher altitudes, and across bor- in 1820, Nathaniel Brown Palmer was one of ders, threatening more lives, a phenomenon we the first people to sight it. A few years later, already see today in Africa. an American exploring expedition mapped more A few years ago, hikers discovered a 5,000- than 1,500 miles of the Antarctic coast, ending year-old man in the Italian Alps. You might a centuries-old debate over whether a big land think someone would have noticed him before. mass, in fact, existed around the South Pole. They didn’t because the ice hadn’t melted where he was before—in 5,000 years. If the same thing Forty years ago, inspired in part by Sir were to happen to the west Antarctic ice sheet, Edmund’s expedition, the United States con- God forbid—it’s a remote threat now, but it vened a meeting in Washington to preserve the could occur one day; and if it did, sea levels Antarctic forever as a haven for peace and sci- worldwide would rise by as much as 20 feet. entific cooperation. Today, we can all be proud If that happens, not even Augie Auer will be that not a single provision of the Antarctic Trea- able to save us from the weather. [Laughter] ty has ever been violated. Forty-three nations, Now, I want you to laugh about it because I representing two-thirds of the world’s popu- figure when people laugh, they listen. But this lation, adhere to the treaty. And the Antarctic is a very serious thing. is what it should be, a treasure held in trust In 1992, the nations of the world began to for every person on the planet. address this challenge at the Earth Summit in We are working together to preserve the pris- Rio. Five years later, 150 nations made more tine waters surrounding the continent, and fight- progress toward that goal in Kyoto, Japan. But ing illegal fishing that threatens to destroy spe- we still have so much more to do. America cies in the southern ocean. and New Zealand, in no small measure because For the United States and New Zealand, our of our understanding, which the Prime Minister commitments to Antarctica are based right here so eloquently articulated a few moments ago, in Christchurch. Nearly 7 out of 10 United because of our understanding of the significance States expeditions to the Antarctic are staged of Antarctica and the work we have done here from here. And let me say, the only disappoint- to make this a refuge of scientific inquiry, have ment I have about this trip is that I didn’t special responsibilities in this area. stage an expedition from here. [Laughter] So Of course, we have a big responsibility be- I want you to know, I expect that you will let cause America produces more greenhouse gases me come back one more time, so I can fulfill than any other country in the world. I have my lifelong desire to go to Antarctica. offered an aggressive program to reduce that I think, of all the work being done here, per- production in every area. We are also mindful haps the most important to us and to the young that emissions are growing in the developing people here, particularly, over the next 20 years world even more rapidly than in the developed will be the work that tells us about the nature world, and we have a responsibility there. of climate change and what it is doing to the But I wanted to say today—and if you don’t ice cap here, to the water levels around the remember anything else I say, I hope you will world, and to the way of life that we want for remember this—the largest obstacle to meeting our children and our grandchildren. the challenge of climate change is not the huge 1538 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 14:26 Sep 06, 2001 Jkt 010199 PO 00000 Frm 00442 Fmt 1240 Sfmt 1240 C:\TEMP\PAP_TEXT txed01 PsN: txed01 Administration of William J.

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