Clinton presses for funds to shore up U.S. climate policy leadership

2/25/2010

Washington, DC–The United States needs to become the leader in the international arena of climate change politics and economics, said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“Jobs are going to go by the wayside if we do not get in there; it is a political and economic issue,” she said in her testimony defending her department’s fiscal 2011 budget request. She called on Congress to recognize the strategic importance of taking the initiative on climate change.

The State Department needs $646 million to promote the United States as a leader in green technologies, she said, and added that the clean-energy market is set to be captured by other countries, especially China. The “intellectual capital of the world” and the originator of most of this technology should not be left behind in this clean-energy economy, she said.

Clinton also praised U.S. efforts at Copenhagen, especially President Obama’s decision to barge into a secret meeting being held by China, India, South Africa and Brazil to “figure out how to avoid tough questions.” The end result of that was the Copenhagen Accord, she said.

Copenhagen is the first time after World War II that developed and developing nations have taken equal responsibility for their emissions, she said.

“The world wants the United States to lead; they look to us as the world’s oldest democracy,” she said.

The 2011 budget has a 38 percent increase in funding to address climate change, a move that Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) lauded in his opening comments.

Developed nations have agreed to give $30 billion through 2012 to developing nations to help with their climate change efforts.

“Now we face the even tougher challenge of matching our words with action,” said Kerry.

The Obama administration has requested $1.4 billion for climate-related diplomacy efforts as part of a $58.5 billion budget for the State Department. This is just 1.4 percent of the overall 2011 budget.

In a hearing sparsely attended by the Republican side, ranking member Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) touched lightly on the climate change issue.

“Wasted economic gains from attainable energy efficiencies are a drag on economic recovery,” he said. “We are also concerned about the possible crises that could occur if dramatic climate change takes hold.”