Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - September 29, 2006)
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By Mr. SARBANES:
S. 4038. A bill to establish the bipartisan and independent Commission on Global Resources, Environment, and Security, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation to establish a Commission on Global Resources, Environment and Security. The goal of the Commission is to address one of the most serious, long-term threats facing our Nation--the degradation of the earth's natural life support systems--and to make recommendations for a coordinated, comprehensive, long-range national policy and new strategies to promote global environmental security.
In March 2005, more than 1,300 scientists from 95 countries around the world completed the largest and most comprehensive study of the health of the earth's ecosystems ever undertaken. Known as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the four-year study found that the natural systems that support life on earth--our waters, wildlife and fisheries, air and lands--have been degraded more rapidly and extensively over the past five decades than in any comparable period of time in history. The result has been a substantial loss of biodiversity, a significant increase in atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, depletion of world fisheries and water supplies, excessive nutrient pollution of rivers and coastal waters, and increased risk of emergence of new diseases. The report also found that, unless substantial actions are taken in policies, institutions and practices in the near future to reverse the degradation, the pressure on the planet's ecosystems will continue to increase. In the next 50 years, the world population is expected to grow from approximately 6 billion to more than 9 billion people. Global demand for food is projected to increase by 70-80 percent. Energy consumption is projected to double by 2035 at current growth rates. Globally, as much as 25 percent of freshwater use and 35 percent of irrigation withdrawal is supplied from unsustainable sources. An estimated 7 billion people could face water shortages.
Experts agree that these environmental threats also have profound implications for our national security. According to former Secretary of State Colin Powell ..... ``poverty, destruction of the environment and despair are destroyers of people, of societies, of nations, a cause of instability as an unholy trinity that can destabilize countries and destabilize entire regions.''
As the world's wealthiest nation, the U.S. has the responsibility and the unique capacity to lead the world toward a more sustainable future. The legislation which I am introducing today represents the important step in that direction. It provides for the establishment of an independent commission to examine the state of scientific understanding and current efforts to protect the global environment, to assess the impact of continued global environmental deterioration on U.S. interests, and to make recommendations to address these threats. The last time the Federal Government took a broad in-depth review of international environment and development issues was in the 1970s.
At the launch of Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, stated that, ``only by understanding the environment and how it works, can we make the necessary decisions to protect it.'' The concept of such a Commission is strongly supported by a broad range of leading scientific and foreign policy leaders who have signed the ``Earth Legacy Declaration.'' They assert that: ``We need a national discussion on the fundamental questions of what legacy we will leave our children and grandchildren, and what actions we must take as a nation to ensure that the world we hand down to them is as safe, healthy, and bountiful as the one we inherited.''
We need a new consensus and a foundation upon which to build a renewed U.S. commitment to protect the global environment. I hope my colleagues will join me in this measure to establish this Commission on Global Resources, Environment, and Security.
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