CLIMAI E WATCH
BRIEF

AN INFORMATION UPDATE FROM THE GLOBAL CLIMATE COALITION
Fall 1997

Volume 5. Issue 4

SPECIAL WHITE HOUSE CLIMATE CONFERENCE EDITION
"Americans,

especially

small

business

owners,

don't want an international bureaucracy housed in
the United Nations telling them what to drive or
artificially hiking energy prices."

--Karen A. Kerrigan, Small Business Survival Committee
PUBLIC OPINION POLL SHOWS WHITE HOUSE OUT OF STEP WITH AMERICANS;
"IS IT FAIR, MARKET-BASED, AND COST-EFFECTIVE?" TAXPAYERS ASK.
The White House does a lot of polling. Are they asking the same questions as a recent
public opinion survey by Charlton Research? That would explain the Administration's massive
climate "public education" campaign to mislead the American people. Six out of ten
Americans oppose any international climate agreement that would cost Americans jobs,
according to the Charlton poll released by the Small Business Survival Committee (SBSC).
Says Karen A. Kerrigan, SBSC President, "The results of this poll tell us very clearly that
Americans are unwilling to support any treaty that may land them in an unemployment line."
Makes sense. "It's the economy, stupid," remember?
The survey also found that 73 percent of Americans oppose locking the United
States into long-term, costly programs before we know what should be done. Kerrigan
also pointed out that nine out of ten Americans know little or nothing about U.S. climate policy,
and 70 percent believe that government officials will make decisions without regard for costs to
individuals. The survey sampled 800 adults nationwide between May 17-27.

MEANWHILE, the White House has given up trying to assess the potential economic damage
from its support of targets and timetables, calling such an effort "futile," and preferring instead
to hold staged scientific briefings and photo-op events like the Climate Conference on October
6th. GCC encourages any activity that enhances the public debate, but it does not support
using taxpayer dollars to present one-sided and potentially misleading information to the
American people. Why the free-debate lock-out? Simple, the Administration wants a "soundbite consensus" that can be announced in time for the six o'clock news.
Climate Score:

Obfuscation-1

Honest Public Debate-0

PLEASE TURN

 CLIMATE WATCH
VIEMIEF
ECONOMIC STUDY HIGHLIGHTS WHITE HOUSE FOLLY; CLINTON ADMINISTRATION
STANDS AT BRINK OF BIGGEST $S BLUNDER OF THE DECADE
A flood of new economic studies has hit the street. The most detailed "local
impacts" work to date was released October 1, by the Global Climate Coalition. The
bottom line: the Clinton Administration's climate bill for every American family
will arrive every year, reaching $2,000 by the year 2010. Prices for natural gas,
electricity and gasoline could jump 30 to 55 percent by 2010 and 40 to 90 percent by
2020. The study, conducted by WEFA, Inc., one of the nation's leading economic
forcasting firms, looked at the cost of adopting the least restrictive climate proposal
before the UN - stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels by 2010.
The WEFA study concluded that energy producing states and states depending
upon exports would suffer the most from the Administration's policy. These states
include: Texas, California, New Jersey, Louisiana, Virginia, West, Virginia, Wyoming,
Montana, Oklahoma, Washington, Indiana, Tennessee and Alabama. But families in
every state would be affected. The report estimates many workers will lose wellpaying manufacturing jobs and find only lower paying service jobs. The White House,
on the other hand says we can reduce our reliance on energy and reduce emissions
without serious cost just by "changing the way we do things."
tt>

Climate Score:

Obfuscation-1

Economic Prosperity-0

LABOR UNIONS CONDUCT THEIR OWN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS; HUGE JOB LOSES
PROJECTED; AMERICAN WORKERS ASK 'AT WHAT PRICE?'
7A United Nations climate treaty]...will throw a record-shattering number of American families out of
worn and these are jobs that will never be replaced. This proposal represents allpain and no gain for
American workers..."
Cecil Roberts (United Mine Workers)
"We owe it to our children and future generations to find a way to achieve a cleaner environment
without bankrupting the U.S. economy and consigning millions of Americans to a life of unemployment
and poverty."
Peter Lilly (Peabody Holding Company)
Labor's foray into climate economics has left them at odds with the Clinton White House. Labor went
public with their concerns on September 17, when they released a hard hitting economic report. In
addition to the quotations above, the unions say more than 1.5 million American jobs will be lost and
energy prices will "skyrocket under a proposed United Nations treaty on global warming." One out of
every two coal miners will head for the unemployment line, and energy prices wil jump: gasoline
by 43 percent, fuel oil by 119 percent, and electricity prices by 94 percent by 2020. The study's
authors at Data Resources, Inc. (DRI), report that since developing countries like China and Mexico
are not required to limit emissions, the "entire U.S. economy would be placed at risk with little or no
environmental benefit."
q;> Climate Score:

Obfuscation-1

U.S. Job Security-0

CLIMATE WATCH BRIEF is published monthly by the Global Climate Coalition, an organization of business trade associations and
private companies established to coordinate business participation in the scientific and policy debate on global climate change.
Permission to quote or reprint is not necessary, although attribution is appreciated.
Any questions? Call Torn Cakagni in the GCC Press Office (202) 974-5036.
'A.LN
CLIMATE COALITION • 1275 K St. NW • Suite 890 • Washington, DC 20005 • Press Office (202) 628-3622