Word: summited
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...danger is that these agreements will be vague and unenforceable, a cosmetic solution not backed by political will. If so, much of the blame will rest with the U.S. In a series of pre-summit meetings at which agreements are being negotiated, American delegates have too often been naysayers, not leaders. A report released this month summing up the Administration's official attitude toward the issues has been widely criticized as being long on statistics but short on solutions. The paper gives little attention to the Rio summit's central theme: the need for sustainable development in which economic growth...
...emissions by 70% over the next 40 years would cost the U.S. economy $2.7 trillion, but would trim fuel and utility bills by $5 trillion. Reducing waste and pollution will take fundamental changes in the American economy, but, says the U.N.'s Maurice Strong, secretary-general of the Earth Summit, "the U.S. hasn't yet realized the economic consequences of not making those changes...
...real competitive disadvantage could come from failing to protect the environment. Already Japan is developing a 100-year plan to capitalize on environmental concerns by designing "green" technologies, and European nations are moving in the same direction. Says one observer at the pre-summit meeting now being held at the U.N.: "Once again the U.S. is going to be left behind in the dust of a Honda...
...Moreover, the U.S. has pledged to contribute $75 million to international funds designed to aid developing countries in efforts to reduce production of greenhouse gases. Reilly is convinced that the U.S. will sign on to a climate-change treaty and all other agreements that come out of the Earth Summit...
...other six major industrial powers are expected to attend, Congress is pressing him to make the trip, and the Democrats are poised to blast his record on the environment. But if the President's motives are just political, the journey south will be an empty exercise. The summit cannot succeed unless the U.S. gets into the spirit of Rio and does its part to create strong new covenants to protect the planet...