Gore Frames Global Warming As Children's Health Issue
Copyright 1998 The White House Bulletin
August 10, 1998
Vice President Al Gore today announced an Administration initiative aimed at
studying children's health and recent hot weather. Gore said that
"startling new climate information" offers
"evidence of
global warming," which he said exacerbates the effect of pollutants, especially for kids. The
Administration
plans to study the effects of
global warming on children at eight new research centers, Gore added.
Gore cited statistics from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) for the past year, showing 1998 to be the hottest year on record
"in the 118 years since we began keeping modern, reliable records." Gore said last month was
"the hottest month on record, period"
since records have been taken. Gore said:
"It's easy to see the long-term trend, and it's easy to see how unprecedented
this January through July really is. And when we warm the planet, the result
is more extreme weather: more floods, more drought, stronger storms; again,
unpredicted consequences."
Gore
continued:
"High temperatures also promote the formation of smog, which makes respiratory
problems worse. And too often, children...end up paying the greatest price.
Simple acts that most of us take for granted, like going for a walk or visiting
a friend, become nearly impossible
for children with asthma because it's hard for them to breathe." Gore said that staying indoors during hot weather is
"a Band-Aid; it's not a solution," adding:
"While we work to protect children from the heat, we simply must do more to
prevent conditions that aggravate asthma and also lead to
all kinds of other health threats."
Gore also said:
"How much more evidence do we need that
global warming is real and it's here? At what point do we break through what's called
denial? ... There are a lot of folks who don't want to face up to this, and
there has been an organized campaign to try to pooh-pooh the evidence." However,
"the evidence is mounting month by month, year by year, freak weather event by
freak weather event."
Joined today by EPA Administrator Carol Browner and Surgeon General David
Satcher, Gore said the EPA and HHS will spend $10.6
million to fund eight
"centers for excellence in children's environmental health" at existing research facilities.
"These unique centers will perform targeted research into children's
environmental health, and translate their scientific findings into intervention
and prevention strategies by working directly with communities and community
groups,"
Gore said, adding that participating institutions will include University of
Southern California, University of Iowa, University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins
University, University of California at Berkeley, University of Washington,
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Columbia University.
Gore continued his comments on
global warming,
saying:
"With new technologies, we can find solutions that are sensible and doable, and
grow our economy at the same time we face this problem. But Congress is flatly
refusing to fully fund our program of research and tax incentives to achieve
these goals. It is time for Congress to act. And I promise you this:
President
Clinton and I will continue to work to find solutions to the challenge of
global warming, because in the end it is not really about charts and numbers. It is about the
effects this has on the lives of real people...and millions of families who
suffer the consequences of inaction every day."
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