Senate Bill 2032
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1998 (NP) SM 2032
By Senator Latvala
19-1392-98
1 Senate Memorial No.
2 A memorial to the President and the United
3 States Senate, urging that the Kyoto Protocol
4 be amended to ensure the equitable treatment of
5 developing countries and developed countries
6 regarding greenhouse gas emissions.
7
8 WHEREAS, the United States is a signatory to the 1992
9 United Nations Framework Convention on Global Climate Change,
10 and
11 WHEREAS, a proposed protocol to expand the scope of the
12 Framework Convention on Global Climate Change was negotiated
13 in December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, potentially requiring the
14 United States to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 7
15 percent from 1990 levels during the period 2008 to 2012, with
16 potentially larger emissions reductions thereafter, and
17 WHEREAS, the Kyoto Protocol would require other major
18 industrial nations to reduce emissions from 1990 levels by 6
19 percent to 8 percent during the period 2008 to 2012, with
20 potentially larger emissions reductions thereafter, and
21 WHEREAS, President William J. Clinton pledged on
22 October 22, 1997, that "the United States will not assume
23 binding obligations in Kyoto unless key developing nations
24 meaningfully participate in this effort", and
25 WHEREAS, on July 25, 1997, the United States Senate
26 adopted Senate Resolution No. 98 by a vote of 95-0, expressing
27 the sense of the Senate that "the United States should not be
28 a signatory to any protocol to, or other agreement regarding
29 the Framework Convention on Climate Change . . . which would
30 require the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification,
31 and which would mandate new commitments to mitigate greenhouse
1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1998 (NP) SM 2032
19-1392-98
1 gas emissions for the Developed Country Parties, unless the
2 protocol or other agreement also mandates specific scheduled
3 commitments within the same compliance period to mitigate
4 greenhouse gas emissions for Developing Country Parties," and
5 WHEREAS, developing nations are exempt from greenhouse
6 gas emissions limitation requirements in the Framework
7 Convention on Global Climate Change, and refused in the Kyoto
8 negotiations to accept any new commitments for greenhouse gas
9 emissions limitations through the Kyoto Protocol, and
10 WHEREAS, manmade emissions of greenhouse gases such as
11 carbon dioxide are caused primarily by the combustion of oil,
12 coal, and natural gas fuels by industries, automobiles, homes,
13 and other uses of energy, and
14 WHEREAS, the United States relies on carbon-based
15 fossil fuels for more than 90 percent of its total energy
16 supply, and
17 WHEREAS, achieving the emissions reductions proposed by
18 the Kyoto Protocol would require a 38-percent reduction in
19 projected United States carbon emissions during the period
20 2008 to 2012, and
21 WHEREAS, developing countries exempt from emissions
22 limitations under the Kyoto Protocol are expected to increase
23 their rates of fossil fuel use over the next 2 decades, and to
24 surpass the United States and other industrialized countries
25 in total emissions of greenhouse gases, and
26 WHEREAS, studies prepared by the U.S. Government
27 estimate that legally binding requirements for the reduction
28 of U.S. greenhouse gases below 1990 emissions levels would
29 result in the loss of more than 900,000 jobs in the United
30 States, sharply increased energy prices, reduced family
31 incomes and wages, and severe losses of output in
2
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1998 (NP) SM 2032
19-1392-98
1 energy-intensive industries such as aluminum, steel, rubber,
2 chemicals, and utilities, and
3 WHEREAS, the failure to provide for commitments by
4 developing countries in the Kyoto Protocol creates an unfair
5 competitive imbalance between industrial and developing
6 nations, potentially leading to the transfer of jobs and
7 industrial development from the United States to developing
8 countries, and
9 WHEREAS, increased emissions of greenhouse gases by
10 developing countries would offset any environmental benefits
11 associated with emissions reductions achieved by the United
12 States and by other industrial nations, NOW, THEREFORE,
13
14 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16 That the President of the United States not sign the
17 Kyoto Protocol nor submit it for ratification to the United
18 States Senate until the protocol is amended or otherwise
19 revised, consistent with United States Senate Resolution No.
20 98, to include specific scheduled commitments for developing
21 countries to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions within the same
22 compliance period as required for developed countries;
23 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Senate
24 reject any proposed protocol or other amendment to the
25 Framework Convention on Global Climate Change which is
26 inconsistent with this memorial, or which does not comply
27 fully with the United States Senate Resolution No. 98.
28 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
29 dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
30 President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
31
3
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1998 (NP) SM 2032
19-1392-98
1 United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
2 the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
4