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Speeches by Representatives

Sara Morse, Local News Anchor for Channel 4, NBC
Welcome to the Global Warming Conference. I’m Sarah Morse, the local news anchor for NBC.

For the past six weeks, the students have been given a persona that they have researched and will represent in the next few hours. Their persona is either an environmentalist, a scientist, a corporate representative or a representative of a government or an alliance of governments.

I have observed the students at work since the beginning of their project, and it was interesting to see how they really acted like their characters. They seemed prepared to adequately represent their positions.

The rest of my group and I (the Media Group) have set up a point system. It has been used to calculate the amount of fame, power, money and commitment each government or industry representative has. If a certain person has a lot of money, they may choose to put up an article on our bulletin board and possibly receive more fame points.

You can also get infamy points, which are the same as fame. This happened earlier when Altree Lo Ver, an American economic advisor to the Sierra Club (who you will hear from later) tore down a donation sheet that was posted on our bulletin board because he had donated money points earlier and wished he hadn’t. This shows you how committed the students are to this project.

All the groups have worked very hard to research their positions and work on their speeches, but I think that Julie Miller, the coordinator of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, has worked exceptionally well and has many good points so her group will benefit from her hard work. Not all the groups have such good team work, however, and I think that the corporate group is one of those. This is only my opinion from the last time I observed them.

Many points of view will be expressed, from feeling the need to make regulations about how much carbon dioxide people produce, to doing nothing at all because global warming is a good thing and action is not necessary. I expect to hear from very determined people with a variety of proposals about what to do about global warming in the near future.

Sean McLean, Chairman and CEO of one of the "Big Three" American automobile manufacturer
I represent General Motors car manufacturing. My view point is that there is no scientific evidence of human induced global warming. Therefore no laws restricting emissions should be put in place. I am concerned because paranoia would cause the government to make laws so that I would be forced to make cars that are too expensive for the public and no one would buy them and I would go bankrupt, which would destroy the economy.

Wm. O'Keef, Director of the American Petroleum Institute and representative of the Global Climate Coalition
As a representative of American Petroleum Institute and the Global Climate Coalition, I believe that global warming is a natural effect, and that, even if it is not natural, it may not be as dangerous as we think it is. We infer this by looking at the past climate of the earth. We also believe that cuts in fossil fuels uses will lead to the loss of millions of jobs and a major crash in the economy that could lead to a depression or recession. Therefore we oppose the mandatory cuts of fossil fuel use. 

Kem S. Tree, Professor of Meteorology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology working with Richard S. Lindzen
As a professor of meteorology at MIT, I believe, along with my colleague Richard S. Lindzen, that global warming is a natural effect and people are greatly overreacting. In Earth’s weather history before and after each ice age, warm periods have been recorded. Since we have recently (in geologic terms) experienced an ice age, now we are in another warm period. I therefore do not believe emission cuts are necessary.

Melanie Dale, Director of Western Fuels Association and colleague of Dr. Patrick J. Michaels, Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia
As Director of Western Fuels Association, I can say that we believe global warming is not happening. The temperature record of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has leveled out so much that I see no evidence of significant global warming in the last decade. However, some scientific evidence shows that there is some warming this century. But it may be that the temperature seems to be warmer than usual now because the temperature was colder than usual last century. If global warming is happening, then coal (which does put COČ into the air) is not the biggest contributor. Forest fires put COČ into the air and there are lots of forest fires. In addition, if COČ totally disappeared and water vapor and clouds still remain, 98% of the greenhouse effect would still warm the earth. If we start to cut emissions of fossil fuels it will lead to an economic upheaval; there is no other cheap, efficient energy source.

Jacqualine Anderson, Chairman and CEO of British Petroleum
As Chairman and CEO of British Petroleum, I feel that it is important that everybody realizes their obligation to take action to help stop global warming. I also think that we cannot wait to take action till the evidence is certain because it might be too late to stop it. At B.P. we have already thought of an idea and started to implement it. We have tried to make fossil fuel burning machines more efficient so you would get more mileage out of one tank of gas, putting less CO2 into the air. Also, as a backup plan, we are developing solar energy sources. These are just two ways that we have started to help stop global warming.

Rein Surence, Chairman and CEO of Swiss Re, the world’s second biggest reinsurance company
I’m the Chairman and CEO of Swiss Re. I’m concerned with the effects of global warming and all the associated disasters that are predicted to happen. A few reasons I’m concerned are the safety of the people, the future of business and the future of my business. It could become financially unfeasible to offer insurance policies against natural disasters. I think we should consider our children’s future. One way we can cut down on CO2 is by cutting down the percentage of CO2 a country is allowed to use, implementing this over a reasonable period of time. In the end my main concern is whether or not the whole insurance industry could go under as a result of global warming.

Clive Jasner, Chairman and CEO of International Pulp and Timber, a (fictitious) multinational corporation
The concentration of green house gases dictates the global temperature. If the climate becomes too warm, it might not be able to sustain trees with wood types important to modern society. Younger trees take in more CO2 (which is a greenhouse gas) than mature ones. That is why logging mature forests and planting new ones help battle global warming. It is called sustained forestry and is the present logging technique of the International Pulp and Timber. Another main source of CO2 is the unnecessary burning of the rain forests. The wood material there is not even used, and is a big waste. "Slash n burn" is a wasteful technique, and when trees are cut down, they should be used.

F. Ishing, Chairman and CEO of the Pacific Fisheries, Inc., a (fictitious) West Coast corporation
I am Mr. F. Ishing and I represent the fishing industries. Al Gore recently linked global warming and El Nino at a conference in Santa Monica. We could be at risk of serious flooding and droughts, which may be linked to Global Warming. Also my industry may take a fall. This is because a increase of temperature may affect important stocks of fish. El Nino makes the temperatures higher gradually, but when it dies down the water will become rapidly too cold for the fish and they will die.

Jim Drakeford, Chairman and CEO of U.S. Grain and Livestock in the United States
I am worried about global warming because it will affect my business. If global warming gets too extreme, it could cause serious drought and therefore my crops might not grow. I am also concerned that people might blame me, since cattle burp methane, one of the worst greenhouse gases. I could lose business because of this. I think that global warming should be controlled and I am willing to help. I am willing to sell my corn to an energy company so they can make a fuel from it that will be less polluting than fossil fuels.

Brittney Kogan, Governor of Florida, who has been elected by a coalition of environmental and tourism groups
I think that global warming is a major concern because Florida is mostly low lying land. If sea levels rise, then the coastal areas will become flooded. Much more than just the coast of Florida will be affected. Half of the U.S. population might become homeless because of the rapid rise in sea level. Tourist areas, businesses, residential areas, national parks and forests will be damaged severely. People should start using more public transportation and car pooling, stop deforestation, plant more trees and use more alternate energy sources. These actions will help to cut down CO2 emissions.

Julie Miller, Coordinator of The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), an international environmental agency representing local government interests
As the coordinator of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, I believe that we need a solution that all countries will agree to. One major concern of global warming are the gigantic costs. By costs I mean dollars and cents, as well as human lives. Here are some of the ways global warming would cost a lot:

All of these will be harmful to human health. Some of the ways I propose to stop global warming are by carbon taxes or emissions trading. I believe that developing countries should not have to cut back as much as the developed ones, until they have had a chance to become developed. We must cut back now, if we want to save ourselves and future generations.

Atree Lo Ver, an American economic advisor to the Sierra Club
I am an American economic advisor to the Sierra Club. My concerns are that the water will rise, droughts and flood will become more common, and the American economy will collapse. My position is that we should take steps immediately to stop global warming. The most important of these changes would be to prohibit slash-and-burn logging practices and to make a law that if you cut down a tree, you must plant two more.

Debra Brooks, Director of the World Health Organization (WHO)
As the director of the World Health Organization, I am concerned that global warming will result in many different health effects. When dramatic global climate change occurs, several different diseases are expected to increase and cause many more deaths than they are currently causing. Just to give you an example: malaria, currently causing 300 deaths a year, is predicted to increase, causing tens of millions more. In addition, out breaks of cholera are expected to cause thousands and thousands of more deaths than the current rate. The World Health Organization believes that it is important that we start to cut use of fossil fuels as soon as possible in both developed and developing countries. The benefits of cutting emissions are predicted to save tens of billions of dollars as well as tens of thousands of lives.

It’s important that we start trying to help before we get complete proof that it’s happening. We must take action before it’s too late.

Marilyn Reese, Executive Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
As the Executive Director of the National Resources Defense Council, I have two main concerns: health and sea levels.

I feel that the emissions need to be cut fast and there need to be laws made and possible incentives offered.

Forrest N. Vironmentalist, an environmentalist concerned with the impact of global warming on forests
I represent environmentalists in the United States who are concerned with the impact of global warming on our forests. I think global warming should be stopped because it is destroying our nation’s forests by flooding them, causing droughts, and polluting our water supply. Many trees can’t adapt to changing CO2 levels and die. Also, it heats the climate much faster than natural warming, so the trees can’t migrate quickly enough. I would strongly encourage any nation to cut CO2 emissions and to find alternate resources to wood. They should also reforest places suitable for trees.

Dr. Lesley Grant, Senior Scientist at the Department of Energy, an author of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Second Assessment Report
As a scientist at the Department of Energy and one of the authors of the International Panel on Climate Change Second Assessment Report, I think that global warming is an extremely serious problem that is human influenced. The global mean surface temperature has increased by about 0.3 to 0.6 degrees Celsius since the late 19th century, a change which is unlikely to be completely natural.  Climate change will have significant and wide ranging effects on our planet, which will ultimately result in the loss of life. But cost effective solutions are available, and if we act now, they can be implemented. For example, we can stop or cut down on deforestation, improve the efficiency of personal appliances, and use cleaner burning fuels for many everyday activities.

If we work together, we can cut carbon dioxide and help stop global warming.

Dr. Snuffles, Research Scientist in Antarctica
I’m Dr. Snuffles, a research scientist in Antarctica. The biggest problem I face in Antarctica is a loss of sea ice. Sea ice reflects the sun back into the atmosphere. A loss of sea ice will increase heat transfer from the ocean, too. Also, sea ice has a major effect on the climate of the earth, so with sea ice melted the world is hotter. Also, glaciers will melt and the sea level will rise a lot.

Dr. Carl Sagan, Jr., Senior Scientist for Mission to Planet Earth , National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA)
As a scientist, I study global warming for my job. I am concerned with global warming because NASA could suffer greatly from global warming. Kennedy Space Center could go under water and they would have to direct their funds from space flight, which is a primary program, to building sea walls around their facilities. Also, the people will suffer greatly. The loss of homes in the event of polar ice caps melting is just one of the many dangers of global warming. We want to improve technology for the transfer from fossil fuels to alternative fuels. Global warming is a incredible problem and NASA will do their part to stop it.

Dr. Giddon Adams, Scientist at Stanford University researching climate change through modeling
I think that global warming is a big problem and greenhouse gases must be cut. Computer models show a temperature increase of 1o-3.5o C. That could cause numerous problems, such as sea level rises and severe weather conditions. The main gas that should be cut is CO2. Every effort should be made to decrease the emissions of CO2. To reduce the economic impact, we must research alternate energy sources before making drastic reductions

David MacLauchlin, Bureau Chief for BBC
As a member of the BBC, my job in the conference was to give a short speech after interested parties all spoke about global warming and before we broke up into the committee groups to negotiate the treaty compromises. I spoke about who had a good and bad speech. I thought that William O’Keef did the best job because he used excellent graphics.

Meikoshaw Mitscovitz, Director of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
On behalf of the Southeast Asian Nations, we believe that emissions need to be cut. We favor a 7.5% emissions cut and we think that this should be done by 2005. We believe that global warming is a problem and we should prepare for it. Problems for our countries when global warming occurs will be: the rainfall patterns will change, the temperatures will go up 1.5-4.5 degrees, and the rise in sea level could be tremendous. We are predicting that it could rise 30 centimeters in the next 100 years, which will create a lot of flooding. A predicted 20 % decrease in crops would cause a lot of poverty and starvation. Global warming will also cause droughts and illness. We strongly think that emissions should be cut.

Met Palo Alto, Representative to the Kyoto Conference from the Group of 77 Plus China
We (G77 and China) are very concerned about the effect on our countries of passing a treaty on regulating CO2. We are concerned with global warming because it will ruin the environment and crops. We want the United States and the other developed nations to lower their CO2 emissions, not us, the developing countries. We want to develop our countries and have fossil fuels like coal at our disposal to use as much as we need.

Kerry Strone, Representative to the Kyoto Conference from the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) who operates a tourist bureau located in the Maldives
As the representative from the AOSIS (Alliance of Small Island States), we have four major concerns:

What we feel should be done is a 20 % reduction in emissions of CO2 by the year 2005. The more developed countries such as the United States and Europe would be the countries to carry out this proposal. Smaller less developed countries should try to cut down on emissions, but not as much. This emission cuts must be mandatory.

Sambya Nakiko, Representative to the Kyoto Conference from the African Nations
On behalf of our African Nation, our concerns are our need to develop our industries and to save our dying agriculture. We must have the right to use more energy than we are at the moment, to supply our needs for development. As the sea level rises, the changing waters are literally "swallowing up" our slowly dying crops, and producing food shortages. And when the crops rot, they simply produce more methane, which increases global warming. Our position is that of any other country trying to survive in a worldwide economy. We know truly that we have a serious need to increase industry and to put an end to all food uncertainties that threaten our small nations. Our current proposal is for highly developed countries that have already burned so many fossil fuels, to lower their emissions and allow us to raise ours!

Yoko Kondo, Representative to the Kyoto Conference from Japan
Japan has been a world leader in setting lower emission standards. My proposal as the representative from Japan is to lower CO2 emissions by 5 % by the year 2008-2012. Developing countries would be able to set lower standards of emissions. The proposal would be mandatory. We think that global warming is a problem for environmental issues. Rising sea levels would be a big problem for Japan, since it is an island. The low lying land might get severely flooded and the agriculture would be damaged so there would be less food.

Scotty McFrance, Representative to the Kyoto Conference from the European Union
Global warming is a major concern for Europe. The European Union’s environmental quality is decreasing, because of intense land use and the high standard of living that uses a lot of fossil fuels. The second problem is flooding in coastal areas. This will happen because of two reasons: 1) ice caps may melt. 2) heat makes water expand. The European Union proposes a 15% emissions cut by 2010. The developed countries must make the cuts. Developing countries won’t need to cut emissions.

Werdna Remraf, Representative to the Kyoto Conference from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
I am the representative from OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), and we are very concerned that people will start buying less petroleum because they are worried that their gas will cause global warming. I think that if people make restrictions on oil usage, we should receive money as compensation. I think that global warming should be seen as part of a very large pattern of warm periods and ice ages and that we shouldn’t worry about it. I think that global warming is a big exaggeration of scientists and that it is really a natural pattern.

Judith Shredder, Representative to the Kyoto Conference from the United States
I am the representative of the United States of America. America thinks that global warming is a problem, but our economy is an important thing to take into consideration. We feel that we must make slow progress with our efforts to stop global warming so that we and other developed countries will not have too big a drop in our economy. We think that emissions trading and encouragement of private industry by tax cuts and incentives is the way to implement this. We also want some commitment from developing countries to begin making cuts as they develop. Our proposal is to cut emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2010-2015.

Tami Whiting, CNN News Anchor
I’m Tami Whiting, the evening news anchor from CNN. My main job was to follow the conference. At the end of the conference, I had a lot to say.

On the whole, I would say the conference went great. The students worked really well together. Some of the individuals who made presentations were exceptionally good, such as Jaqualine Anderson, CEO of BP; William O’Keef, director of the American Petroleum Institute and President of the Global Climate Coalition; Dr. Lesley Grant, research scientist for the IPCC; Debra Brooks, director of the World Health Organization; and Julie Miller, coordinator for ICLEI. The parents also got to participate in the small discussion groups in which compromise solutions were hammered out. Everyone was very involved. I’d say the conference was a big success.