US:Coal & Oil Barrels Dumped at Capitol-Stop Climate Change

["the greenbase" <greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org>]

GREENPEACE DUMPS COAL AND OIL BARRELS ON CAPITOL STEPS TO
PROTEST "BYRD-BRAINED" ATTEMPT TO DE-RAIL CLIMATE TREATY

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 18, 1997 (GP)  Today, Greenpeace dumped
four tons of coal and seven barrels of oil in front of the US
Capitol to protest a resolution introduced by Senator Robert
Byrd (D-WV) and 45 other senators.  The Resolution (S. 98)*
threatens to de-rail international negotiations of the Framework
Convention on Climate Change, first signed by President Bush at
the Rio Summit in June 1992.  

Under the terms of the Climate Convention, to which the US
government is a signatory, countries such as the United States
must take the first steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions caused
by the burning of coal and oil.  The US has been and continues
to be the number one emitter of greenhouse gases that cause
global warming and climate change. Now, Senator Byrd and 45
other co-signers are threatening to renege on this international
agreement by mandating that some of the world's poorest nations
and lowest greenhouse gas emitters assume the same international
commitments as industrialized countries.  

 "Greenpeace will remove the coal and oil from the Capitol when
all of  the 45 Senators remove their names from the resolution,"
said Kalee Kreider, Director of the Greenpeace Climate Campaign. 
"The Senator's  Byrd-brained scheme will only perpetuate our
dependence on coal and  oil rather than allow us to save the
climate and make the  twenty-first century the solar century,"
she continued.

The coal and oil industry together have spent millions of
dollars in paid advertising and propaganda to downplay the
threat of global warming and climate change.  Currently, the
Business Roundtable (an industry group) is engaged in a $1
million dollar campaign to draw attention to the "economic
consequences" of the climate treaty.  "Interestingly, the
industry's language concerning the Climate Treaty is markedly
similar to the language of senator Byrd's resolution," stated
Kreider. "By threatening to derail the climate negotiations
these Senators show a criminal disregard for human health and
the environment."

In 1995, 2,500 of the world's global warming and climate change
experts concluded that human activities, such as burning coal
and oil, are causing the temperature and seas to rise.  In
response to the overwhelming consensus of opinion in this
scientific body (the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
Greenpeace advocates that industrialized countries reduce
greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2005 and stop new oil
exploration in frontier areas such as Alaska and North Atlantic.

###

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:  
Kalee Kreider 202-253-1295 (cell phone) 202-319-2523 (office)
Deborah Rephan 202-319-2492 (office)

*Copies of Resolution and names of 45 senators are available.

ATTENTION BROADCASTERS - SATELLITE FEED OF TODAY'S ACTION
AVAILABLE AT: 3:00 - 3:30P (EST) ON GALAXY C4, TRANSPONDER 9.