Gore Seeks to Reassert U.S. Role on Environment in U.N. Speech

Vice President Al Gore, carrying a message of U.S. commitment on environmental matters to the world body, told the United Nations’ Commission on Sustainable Development that the White House will establish a council to advise the President on how to promote economic growth without ruining the environment.

The new unit will be called the Council on Sustainable Development, Gore said.

A year after the United States and 177 other nations met in Rio de Janiero in the first international Earth Summit, Gore sought in his speech here to reassert U.S. leadership in environmental politics worldwide, telling delegates to the U.N. commission: “If there was any doubt about the support of the United States . . . let me lay it to rest right here and now.”

Less than a week after President Clinton’s proposed energy tax was scuttled in the face of congressional opposition, Gore said that the White House will draft a new plan to reduce the nation’s burning of fossil fuels.

At the same time, Gore struck a conciliatory tone toward developing nations, many of which have blamed the industrial world for protecting its consumption policies while demanding sacrifice from the Third World.

“Sometimes,” said Gore, “the developing countries are right. . . . We (industrial nations) have a disproportionate impact on the global environment. We have less than a quarter of the world’s population but we use three-quarters of the world’s raw materials and create three-quarters of all solid waste.”

Gore said that the 25-member White House council “will develop new approaches to integrating economic and environmental policies” and build a new partnership among representatives from industry, government and environmental groups.

Indeed, the council, announced officially by President Clinton Monday afternoon, will be co-chaired by a pair of improbable partners: environmental activist Jonathan Lash, president of the Washington-based World Resources Institute, and Dave Buzzelli, vice president of Dow Chemical. Also serving on the board is Richard A. Clarke, chief executive officer of the Pacific Gas & Electric Co.