white house conference on environmental technology 1994 docx

PREFACE Vice Presiden Al Gore and group of senior Clinton Administration officials met with more than 400 industry, environmental, and government leaders from around the United States on

White House Conference on Environmental

Technology

Working Papers From the Conference Held

In Washington, D.C

December 11-13, 1994

PREFACE Vice Presiden Al Gore and group of senior Clinton Administration officials met with more than

400 industry, environmental, and government leaders from around the United States on December 11-13, 1994, af the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C, to discuss way to promote economic srowth and job creation while preserving the envionment

‘The gol of the White House Conference on Environmental Technology was to lay the groundwork for developing a national strategy for deploying a new generation of advanced environmental

technologies ~ technologies with potential to improve U.S economic competitiveness and position

US industry for world leadership in international markets, while tthe same ime providing for

‘more effective and sosuinable environmental protection

Senioe Administration officials joining Viee President Gore and myself as speakers atthe conference Inluded Seerelary of Commerce Ron Brown, Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary, US,

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browncr, National Aeronauties and Space

‘Administration Administrator Dan Goldin, and US Agency for International Development

‘Administeator Brian Atwood They were joined by U.S Senator Joseph Leiberman (Connecticut); business leaders representing both small and large companies, including Ralph Peterson, CEO of the

‘CHM Hill Corporation; environmental leaders, including Jonathan Lash, President ofthe Word Resources Institute and Co-Chair ofthe President's Council for Sustainable Development academic experts and leaders, including George Washington University resident Stephen Trachtenberg: and State and local goverment oficial from around th country including Vermont Governor and [atonal Governors" Association Chairman Howard Dean

‘The top priority forthe Clinton Adminstration in crafting a National Environmental Technology Strategy i to stengthen the ability of U.S private industry to develop, commercialize, and pt ito

‘se new environmental technologies Partipants inthe conference met to discuss development and

‘ommerialization of new environmental technologies, lowering regulatory burcrs othe use of new lechnologies, developing and Financing the US environmental technology market, promating

‘environmental technology exports and fostering te transition to long-term economic growah that

‘retes jobs while improving and sustaining the environment,

“The White House Conference on Environmental Technology was the culmination of more than twenty workshops held around the country by the Administration inthe previous sx months o obtain npus from various regions, industries, and other stakeholders concerning the developing National Environmental Technology Strategy The conference was sponsored bythe National Science and

‘Technology Council (NSTC)."he NSTC, acabine-level White Huse policy council established and chaired bythe President, i responsible for coordinating science and technology programs and polices throughout the Federal government

“The strategy development effort, the conference, and the workshops are all pat of the

‘Administration's Technology fora Sustainable Future (TSP) inative which is managed by an Interagency environmental technology working group under the auspices ofthe NSTC andthe White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) The TSF initiative was launched by Vice President Gore on July 15,1994, with the release ofthe report Technolog for a Sustainable Future:

‘A Framework for Aetion

‘Since the White House Conference, as additional local and regional workshops are being held, OSTP andthe envizonmenal technology working grup have been working with industry, state

governments, and other stakeholders to craft uly national strategy to advance te use of American- produced environmental technology Although the National Environmental Technology Strategy will

be released bythe feral government, it wil attempt to reflect the views of industry, academia, non

‘governmental organizations and government as to how we asa nation can advance the development,

‘commerialization and use of environmental technologies he Administration wil release the

[National Environmental Technology Strategy during Earth Week in Apil 1995

‘To facilitate the preparation ofthe National Environmental Technology Strategy, the accompanying

«collection of working paper onthe December 1994 White House Conference on Eavitonmental

“Technology has been compiled The suggestions reported in these working papers have not been endorsed by the NSTC of by any federal agency The transcripts of conference speeches and ofthe plenary roundtable are edited and abridged

Joba H, Gibbons

‘Assistant othe President for

‘Science and Technology Policy

‘TABLE OF CONTENTS Plenary Session Addresses

1 John Gibbons, Conference Chaeman and Assistant the President for

‘Science and Technology 2. AlGore, Viee President ofthe United States

3 Ralph Person, CEO, CHM Hill Corporation

‘4 Howard Dean, Governor of Vermont and Chairman, National

Governors" Association

5, Jonathan Lash President, World Resouress Insitute and Co-Chair ofthe

resident's Council for Sustainable Development

‘Stephen Trachtenberg, President, George Washington University

Hazel O'Leary, Secretary of Energy

Ron Brow, Secretary of Commerce

Brian Atwood, Administrator, US Ageney for Tnterational

Development

10 Dan Goldin, Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space

‘Administration

LL Carol Browne, Adminstrator, U.S Environmental Protection Agency

12 Joseph Leberman, U.S Senator, Conneticut

Breakout Session Summaries

Envronmes

1 1 Technology Export

2 US Environmental Technology Market Development and Diffsion

3 Financing Environmental Technology

‘4 Busing Intemational Markets fo Environmental Technologies

5 R&D to Commerciaizaton Continuum

{6. Verification and Testing of Environmental Technologies

7 Regulatory Policy

8 Environmental Monitoring and Information Access

9. _ Environmental Edvcation and Training

10 Prinerships for Sustainable Communities

11 Infrastructure for Building Technologies

12 Transporation Technologies

13, Transition to Industrial Ecology

1 Service Industries andthe Environment

Roundhable Session Sunsmates

Research and Development

Incentives for Innovation

Exports and Global Markets

Demonstration/Veritiation

Finance

Education and Training

Plenary Roundtable Deliberations

Page

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131

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SECTION A PLENARY SESSION ADDRESSES:

‘Remarks by John Gibbons Conference Chairman and Assistant to the President for Science and Technology Policy Welcoming Remarks

(On behalf of the Administration and the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC),1 am

<eighted to welcome you to this White House conference The President created the NSTC a year ago to hop facilitate this kindof merging ofthe interests of federal agencies withthe private sector

‘o enable things to happen that simpy could not happen before Te NSTC complements the

National Security Couneil, the National Beonomie Council, and the Domestic Policy Council by creating within the White House an ability to assemble across the federal agencies a cllectve kind

of wisdom about scence and technology, and the associated capability for action and planing and wegraion of federal programs As with regard tothe other councils, the President chairs the NSTC, withthe Vie President chairing in the Presidents absence The members ofthe NSTC include the heads of federal agencies tht contain significant technology i mostal ofthe major agencies

‘mutually supportive, and renforing if we use ou technological ingenuity

Another od praigm that we soe as anachronistic thatthe people and government by nature

‘operate in apposition to one another, ater than working together to achieve common gols, That we can work productively together will be demonstrated during this conference and by ations which {government and the private sector v be taking together in the coming months We will be linking public and private ends, combining strengths s0 that in effect one plus one equals about four instead

of wo,

US science and engineering and technology systems work best when they are challenged We Americans lke challenges, puzzles o solv, and new games to pay The notion of sustainable evelopment presents an exciting challenge, both domestically and globally We know increasingly

‘how riuch our actions hee inthe United States fet the rest ofthe wold, and vce versa, We ate no longer nation in isolation, Instead, we are very much apart of the whole ofthe pane

We firmly believe that US industry has the innovative capacity and the entrepreneurial spirit nocessryto respond to ths challenge and to create a new generation of environmentally sound product and proceses, We also believe that there isan important key role for the publi sector, paticularly 0 help define and sustain the demand fo environmental quality Government does this through affirmative and enabling public policies, including through iiatives to increase pubic understanding of and support for what ean and needs tobe doe,

‘Aig role for government isto be ate partner with regard fo research Government can be

"espevaly help i supporting esearch that eas to generic and pre-competitive capable, i,

“spabiites that the private sector would nat be able to attain alone, For example, government can

‘support research areas that do not meet the hurdle eiteria or quirements for evate industry

investment Clearly collaboration and partnerships are going to be the keys to developing new

environmental technology solutions and to bringing them tothe marketplace Japanese businessmen employ the word Keyost which they use somewhat like we we “symbiosis” Keyos! means living and

‘working together fora commen goed It seems to me thatthe spirit of keyosi is behind the kinds of things we are going to discus at his conference,

“Together we must transform our technological infrastructure to use less energy and less materials t0

‘cause less environmental harm, and, atthe same time, to provide those goods and services that we all dest Ta this joint endeavor, we seck more than smal steps down the familiar technological paths Tstea, we seek a transformation of our industrial economy, a transformation involving

technological ingenuity and a people commited to stewardship We sock a wansformation of

industri economy into a economy that leads the weld in demonstrating that economic ¥

‘environmental quality, and resource sussiabiliy are simultaneously achievable,

‘Toachieve this goal, we have to forge a common vision, creative stteges, and a shared

commitment Tis conference is a tp in that direction, a step towards developing a National

Environmental Technology Strategy The emerging strategy will reflect the broad wisdom and

«diverse perspectives of the participants in this conference In the course ofthe next two days, we

‘want yo to join with your colleagues from industry, academia, non-governmental organizations, and federal, state and local government o help formulate the key element ofthis strategy and the nature ofthe partnerships, policies and actions which wil be crucial othe strategy realization Inthe end, (ur strtegy must be your strategy Al of us are the catalysts for developing the strategy

[Luncheon Remarks on December 12

‘Ths alernoon we ae going tobe turing tothe 14 breakout sessions where the real work begins We

‘expect and anticipate an intense degree of participation onthe pat of al of you in these breakout Sessions, And we lok forward to receiving your best ideas however revolutionary or argumentative

“Thomas Jefferson said that “freedom rings where opinion clas.” So let us hear some freedom, ringing this aftemoon as we try to identify and resolve our issues

| want to mention that subscriptions to the Global Network for Environmental Technology (GNET) are going to be fre of charge to all the users throughout the period between now and Earth Day This {ste hep facilitate the further engagement of this wonderful bunch of people inthe months between

‘now and next April A signup sheet is included wit your conference materials Please exercise that

‘opportunity You can also visit the GNET demonstration are just ouside of this room,

Luncheon Remarks on December 13

Tam very pleased tose the extensive networking underway at his conference The things that we are working on together are taking form, they ae jellng To me, the energy level here i still

‘emarkably high T applaud all of you for collectively bringing sich enerpy and wisdom wo a process

‘at all of ws have so much ofa sake i, T would like to say again how much pleasure it as boen to

‘be par’ ofthe National Science and Technology Counei’s workin helping catalyze the presence and contributions of so many of the federal agencies The fat that we have heard at this conference from

So many heads of federal departments and agencies isa testimony t0 anew kind of virtual process that we are pursuing under President Clinton and Vice President Gore to make the whole greater than the sum ofthe pas also want to express my special appreciation to some others

‘+ ToRalph Peterson, the CEO of CHM Hil, for hs leadership and support ofthe Technology for Sustainable Fuue (TSF) initiative since the beginning, and for addressing us yesterday

‘+ To Howard Dean the Governor of Vermont and Chair of the National Governors’ Association, for sharing his perspectives with us yesterday inthe plenary session,

‘+ To Jonathan Lash, the President ofthe World Resources Istute and Co-Chait ofthe President's Council for Sustainable Development, for his commitment and participation yesterday and today and for his long-term suppor ofthe notion of sustainable development as global ita

‘+ ToSteve Trachtenberg, the President of George Washington University who, as we heard yesterday, is collaborating with Administrator Carol Browner and te EPA to begin a unique [reening ofthat urban university I commend him fr hs vision and his commitment to

‘© To Vier Ashe, the Mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, and Chir ofthe U.S Conference of, Mayors, and to Fred Krupp of the Environmental Defense Fund, both of whom were ready jin us as speakers but who were precluded by illness ftom doing so

‘+ Tothe Energy Department's Tom Grumbly and Clyde Frank, and their eam which includes the

‘Waste Pliy Institute, forthe leadership and support thatthe have consistently given tthe TSF iniaive,

‘+ To Tom Harvey and Bill Roberson ofthe Global Environment and Technology Foundation and

to Cindy Cobb of Global Initiatives, Inc, forall of their organizing work and the inedible kind

‘of ack room activity that has made everthing run so smoothly

also salute my colleagues Mark Schaefer, Tim Newell, Dave Rejsdd, Tom Houlihan and the entre Office of Science and Technology Policy team which his worked so diligently over so many months

‘on this initiative and the conference They have worked hard t take environmental technology 102 rational evel of dialogue and attention, {think the effr is making a difference Environmental technology is going to hea subject of considerable debate and concer in he sping abd we are going

to need help and participation from ll of you in that process,

Finally, I wan to thank each of you fr coming and sharing so freely of your ideas, of you doubts as

‘well as your convictions We encourage you to continue that sharing proces I wil ceraily significantly help us a we develop the National Environmental Technology Steg

Keynote Address by Vice President Al Gore Introductory Remarks by John Gibbons: Its a great pleasure forme to introduce the Vice

President of the United Stites As you know, he not only deeply believes i the case that we are ahered he to alk about but he also has profound knowledge about the subject His commitment t0 environmental quality is probably the highest and most profound among word leaders know that {you are as enthusiastic as Tam and as grateful as Lam for his steadfast commitment and his

Teadership inthis most worthy enterprise

yu have before you [look forward to participating at various points during the conference This Conference is pat ofa proces hat has been on-going fr some ine and Tam very excited by it and

‘ratefl that you al are hee

“Twenty-five years ago, when Commander Neil Armstrong was invited to address ajint session of

‘Congress after his moon voyage, he sad, "man must understand his universe in order to understand his destiny” The Apollo mission and ll of ou umes ito space have done so much to help us Understand our universe But they have also given us a chance o gaze on our own world which was

‘ls to some exten, unexplored None of us will ever forget those grainy images of our astronauts pressing their boos down and planting an American flag on the surface of the moon But Apolo not

‘only changed our view fom his planet It also changed ur view of our own planet and made us realize the fragility of our ova world think eve before Armstrong's famous step, the image of the sanh tht Frank Borman's mission broadast back, withthe earth ising over the moon's horizon was

‘breakthrough fr millions, perhaps billions, of people, who had conceived ofthe earth as an entire

‘entity Thus, we were greatly assisted, at least I was, by the ability t0 se the earth visually, a it realy i, surrounded by an infinite black backdrop

{donot believe it was a coincidence thatthe frst Earth Day in 1970 immediately fllowed our fist

‘missions tothe moon, This new awareness, the new ability see the earth Floating in space, led

<irectly toa new ability onthe pat of so many of ws 1o understand the importance of protecting the feath against the insults of polltion and carelessness that ae now posing new threats othe

‘ecologeal system ofthe entire earth Thus, italso is nota coincidence thatthe National

Environmental Policy Act became law in 1970 Twenty-five years ago we faced a huge

environmental challenge We sil do Bu itis important to acknowledge the progres that we have

‘made, Twenty-five years ago many peopl simply could not swim or fishin waters nea major urban

‘centers, Unfortunately, that is sill te for sme of them, The disposal of municipal waste,

“uncontrolled use of pesticides and herbicides, and releases of hazardous wastes and toric chemicals were contaminating the land and the ground water across ou nation The persistent use of pesticides

nd natention to ecosystem protection threatened numerous species of plants and animals including

‘ur national symbol, the bald eagle In esponse to those teas and others, our nation made a

‘commitment, expressed inthe National Envionmental Policy Act, to ceate and maintain conditions lnder which man and nature can exist in proctive harmony and fulfil the social, economic and

‘other requirements of present and future generations of Americas,”

‘We all know that human beings and nature can exist in productive harmony We can fll the social, conomis and other requirements of this and future generations That is what We mean when We use the phrase “sustainable developmen.” We want to meld our economic and environmental aspirations

‘Wehave come a long way inthe last 25 years Lea, for example, was a serious pubic health threat,

to decades ago, Now, because of goverment legislation and regulation, exposure to Tea has

<eclned significantly andthe threat to our children ha been reduced substantially ~ although the

‘treats stil thee and more work is needed And jst yesterday in our Wester Hemisphere summit

‘meeting in Miami every democratically elected leader of this hemisphere, fom 34 out of the 35 countries, agreed to completly ban lead in gasoline throughout the Wester Hemisphere We have also made great progress in other areas, eg, reducing exposure to pesticides, particulate ar

pollution, and industal and municipal discharge of water pollutants,

‘Our regulatory system has led tothe intelizaton of environmental thinking nd concer in out industries We changed the cost equation inthe marketplace to include environmental impact 282 facto Today we have companies that go far beyond what regulations require We have firms which tundrike independent audits of their environmental performance and then proudly publish the results And we have companies that work with neighborhood and environmental groups to solve stared environmental problems Infact, the largest single economic development project inthe state

‘of New York isa partnership between an environmental group, the Natural Resources Defense (Council, and some private companies to recycle paper in an tea that needs joe

‘Yes itis wonhwhile to acknowledge al ofthe progress that hasbeen made, but as we do $, we also have to soberly recognize how much father we have to go One-third of our population stil ives in

‘commanities where the aris dangerous tothe health ofthe people who are breathing it And even

‘though we made a commitment many years ago to clean up our rivers and lakes, more than one-third

‘of our rivers and lakes ar sill unsuitable fr fishing or swimming, including one not far from hee

‘And there is more Many of the problems that we face today are more subtle, more intractable, and

‘more costly to solve, Whats worse is that presently we are not tackling these problems effectively

Th some esses, we just lack the technology o dal with out curent problems And as we move into the future, we have the even lager challenge of placing ourselves on the path of sustainable

development,

‘Toachieve sustainable development we must pus a fundamental, technological transformation, 2 teansfocmaton that wll allow us to focus our attention on anticipation and prevention as opposed to

‘simply reaction and remediation We cannot coatinue to squander our economic and natural

‘resources inthe catch-up, clean-up game Over the coming decades, the US economy must be able

to deliver high quality products and services to domestic and world markets ith significantly less

‘energy and material inputs and a dramatic decrease in environmental impact As a nation, We must Shift fundamentally new technology trajectories rather than jst increase ou pace along the same

‘ld technological paths The socessl industries ofthe future wil be those that have made this transformation in technology effcieney and productivity They will make the sift from waste

‘management opolltion prevention and tothe efficent use of resources They wll become models ofan industrial ecology built ona closer integration of our systems with nature's ystems

{Ihave often used a simplistic analogy of the hunter looking fra bear but being unable to seein the

‘woods Asa result the hunter follows the Bear's tacks or ges good hunting dog that can follow the

‘scent ofthe bea In jus that same way, an industrialist who is looking for moe inefficiencies to

<liminate, having long since eliminated the most obvious inefficiencies, may be unable to ind the remaining inefficiencies as quickly as his competitors What does he do? He follows the tacks or the Scent The pollution tus et tobe, more ofte than nt, the most easily recognizable marker for an

inefficiency Environmental waste is economic wate Factories produce products an pollution If

‘one eliminates the pollution, fewer raw material are consumed in producing the pollution This

‘evolutionary approach to efiieney goes hand in hand wit ou efforts to clean up the envionment (Ofcourse, the new technologies that are applied directly tothe task of clean-up are now being

"mangfieired,sel4, and purchased around the world in increasing volumes, The environmental technology industry is now one ofthe mos promising sources of new, sustainable, and high-paying jobs in the United States with revenues estimated at $134 billion and more than one milion jobs Glotally, environmental technology in 1992 amounted to nearly §300bilion in revenues By 1997, it isexpected to surpass $400 bilion Both domestically and globally, environmental technology means jobs, g00d jobs, and economic growth, We need better technologies now to clean up existing

pollution We ned stil beter technologies for tomorrow to prevent pollution and we need to

‘stablsh the United States as the word leader inthe environmental industry But we have some obstacles thar we have to clearly recognize and deal with

‘hat lacks Mexbity andi too cumbersome Too often, technological change is sie by overly

‘prescriptive statutory and regulatory provisions We need to find ways to encourage innovation,

‘reatvity and risk-taking, Pursuing more sophisticated environmental technology requies a more

“Sophisticated regulatory system that is more efficient and more effective in our curent competitive and technological landscape OF couse, we hear alot oday thatthe costs to industy of regulations

‘are 100 high and, in essence, that economic and environmental policies are inerendy in conice

‘They re not Thai the wrong conclusion from the evidence, We do not need o choose either the

‘economy ofthe environment Protecting the envionment can and must be god busines, but not if

‘we contin to squander our resources

For example, look atthe cost of cleaning up a hazardous waste site Whee are the resources going?

\We re spending foo mach time and way too mach money in the courtroom Itigaing We are not spending enough time inthe eld remediating If protecting the environment isto costly in out Current system, we are Tt with two choices We can either lower environmental standards, because the cost of complying isto high, or we can find a biter, moe efficient way to achieve our gals

‘Taking ito account the nation’s youths hope that we can ind broad agreement in our county that itis wrong to lower our standards and discount our children's future The central problem isnot the standards Tis the approach and the costo achieve ou standards So the solution Ties in fixing the system

‘As Isai earlier, we need to change the cost equation and change the way we do busines We need

to reinvent the way we go about advancing environmental technology Te central premise of out efforts to reinvent government is that creating a government that works beter and costs les wll give {he taxpayer the absolute maximum value for every tax dolla In ers of environmental technology

‘that means developing statues and regulations that promote innovation instead of stifling it Tat

‘means fostering partnership between the private and publi sectors The next generation of

cnvironmental policy must stress flecbility with increasing accountability and environmental quality

‘Without lexiiliy, we will not innovate Without accountability, we will not have the trust 0 Work top Anliousumnltrentaineeaingewonmenl quai, we wl nt achive a

Consider again the cost of cleaning up hazardous wast sites I remember when the Superfund law passed in December 1980 It was a postelection, ame-duck session of Congres, the lst one nt the 1994 session, Immediately after the law was passed, the new Administration came into power and

‘was very hostile to environmental laws, a least atthe beginning The Congress distrusted the

‘Administration So each effort by the Administration to hack away atthe new environmental aw led

to renewed eons by the Congress oprosribe very detailed actions that the Administration had to lake By the time this process had run it course fr several years, vrwlly ll exibility was taken

‘ut ofthe atinistation of the law And that is expensive,

‘We have to go beyond that kindof approach We have to rely more om trust between the executive and legislative branches of government, and among government, industry and environmental groups Industry can play, in many ways, the Ke role in helping to build the ind of ust hat wll make possible flexibility and rapid pogress And we have to think more about incentives forthe eight kind

‘of change, We need incentives for industry to go beyond the standards that have been et, £0

‘beyond the best available technologies We must hamess American ingenuity to suppor the power of the free market system to work toward building a sustainable future We must rapidly develop, demonstrate, commercialize and then quickly apply the technologies that can save ou socit)

Dillion of clean-up dollars If we do not have the technologies that we now need, we should admit

‘and get to work advancing the technologies that can doth job more efficiently And if we lack the regulatory system tat we need, it time we go to work nd fix that a wel And we are doing that Last July, released the report called Technology for a Sustainable Future: A Framework for Action,

‘which lays out the Key issues associated with the advancement of environmental technology We asked the National Science and Technology Council to undertake a series of technical workshops and policy symposia around the country to lear more about the views of individuals in industry,

‘cademia, non-governmental organizations, and state and local government sto how Federal policies

‘and programs can be improved to encourage the advancement of environmental technologie Centra

to this effort was the identification of public-private and federal state partnerships to advance the development and commercalization of environmental technologies, whether involving avoidance,

‘controled emdiation, or monitoring

‘What we found is that parershis cally work For example, Motorola, working with the

Department of Energy, developed a wave solder process that ently eliminates the ned for cleaning solvents forthe manufacture of electonic printed wire boards, I this process s adopted by the

<lectronics industry, an estimated 11,000 tons of ozone-depleting emissions and 19 trilion BTUs of

‘every could be conserved Thais worth considering Considering another example, cach year more

‘han 500 milion gallos of spray pain are applied on surfaces For evry gallon of pat sprayed, about 45 pounds of pollution are released ito the atmosphere, That s 4 pounds times 500 milion very year In response, the Union Carbide Chemical and Plastics Company, along with National Science Foundation researchers working at Johns Hopkins University are developing Spray paint and coating technology that reduces emissions by som 80 percent Furthermore, the new process not

‘only causes less pollution, i also costs less in labor and improves the quality of the inl produc How many people here have had similar experiences in Finding that innovations that are designed to reduce the amount of pollution end up providing a bonus in that they cost less and provide higher

‘ualty products and services? Such results often go together, no just sometimes, bt often

{final example of the parinersip approach that we ae taking involves the partnership to crete new generation of vehicles The Big Tree automobile companies long with the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, and Transportation, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the

‘National Aeronauties and Space Administration, th National Science Foundation, and the White

0

House's Office of Environmental Policy ae all working together to create the car of the future, With

‘prototype ear planned fr the year 2004, the goal isa thneetmes increase in fue efiiency with the same or better performance atthe same o beter price as current vehicles The potential s

bsoltely enormatis and the level of excitement i very high in the industry and among the other participants,

‘There ae many more success stories that I could al cite, but what they all have in common is that they epitomize what i best about our country when we really decide to solve a problem Our goal

‘must be to employ ingenuity and cooperation to make soc examples the rule eather than he

exceptions That means that we are going to have to focus ona different se of incentives, on

Gliferent way of evaluating sucess and monitoring performance, ad ona different relationship

‘perween the government and the private sector And we are going to talk abou al ofthat ding this

‘conference, We have to move beyond ou current command and contol regulatory system oa new parodigm that rewards creativity and risk-taking and sties for efficiency through innovation This is

‘the way to transform our activites from eatch-up and clean-up to prevention and avoidance Tiss the way to ring together the expertise and resources ofthe public and private sectors wo achieve

‘echnologial transformation in the environmental arena and to build a more competitive economy

‘We are rexamining ou regulatory programs to find ways to encourage greater innovation and use of environmenal technologies We are working withthe slates o find ways to speed up the regulatory ermiting process and we are developing verification programs to help techaogy developers achieve the independent performance assessment they need to commereiaize thet technologies in timely fashion, With programs ike Climate Wise andthe Common Sense Initiative, agencies like the Department of Energy under Secretary Hazel OLeary and the Environmental Protection Agency

‘under Administrator Carol Browner ar already building new alliances with industry to improve

‘environmental performance by corporations through voluntary actions The National Science and

‘Technology Council has eritclly examined federal esearch and development programs and

“developed a corarehensive strategy to ensure that federal programs are well-eoordinated ad

tected to the long-term needs ofthe public and private sectors,

‘We have develope and are implementing an aggresive govemment-wide environmental

technologies export strategy We wil build on ou national and global information infrastactre We are creating a global information network for environmental technologies designed to support

‘collaborative work on new environmental solutions and to help connec innovations with capital and

‘markets Infact, through the Inteet, we willbe exchanging ideas with colleagues around the World

‘throughout this conference And we are working around the world to expand environmental

‘management capacity and programs We ate finding eager pariners in the rst ofthe wold,

‘And finally, we are working with a range of stakeholders to speed up the commercializaton process

“Today we are undertaking anew iiatve that will help technologies move more quickly fom RED

‘0 commercalization The goal ofthis efor, the Raid Commerilization Initia (RCD, ssl

to ensure that good ideas for envizonmental solutions reach the markt quickly, i, bridging the gap {hat too often limits the advancement of promising environmental technologies We wil do this in a

‘numberof ways, suchas increasing the availability of federal sites for technology demonstration and testing, and working with the states to streamline the permiting process We als are establishing a

‘one-stop shop for information on federal environmental vechnology programs Through the

Interageney Environmental Technologies (TETO), experts ean share information with individuals and organizations within and ouside government, Commerce Secretary Ron Brown will discuss the RCL

Sr more detail nice in the conference

In closing, let me say that Ihave long belived that the global environmental crisis is actualy

‘manifestation of a dramatic change inthe lationship between human civilization and the ecological system ofthe earth The change in that relationship has been produced by a combination of three factors: (1) th population explosion; (2) the Scientific and tehnological evoltion, which, forall ts blessings, has als iereased humanity's power to affect the environment around us and as

Sometimes led to unintended damage, nd (3) a new way of thinking which ha alloted too many people belive they can simpy ignore the consequences of today's actions for tomorrow We need

to address ll tre ofthese challenges

‘We took an important scp forward in our world with the achievement at Cato eater his year of worldwide consensus on how to stabilize the word's population, Ths environmental technology conference may ultimately be looked back upon a being even more important if it helps to catalyze the development, demonstration, commercaization, and wide diffusion and application of new environmental technologies We will clean up the environment and ceat jobs a the same time Our

‘world has changed a lot since that day when Neil Armstrong radioed back "the Eagle has landed.” I continues to change quickly

‘Our environmental policy must reflect and respond to the changes in our world We nced a paradign shit in our policies toward the environment and the economy The huge factor that has led tothe

‘environmental crisis, our way of thinking, is where the most work needs to be done, We need to

‘change the environmental, energy, and economie equation and devise ways to ake advantage of the tremendous forces of the markeiplace to achieve our objectives Most importantly of all, we need you, each and every one of you, to help Is tine to change the sytem, yes, but we need your ski your ingenuity and, mos of all your commitment because you are on the euting edge of

technological advancement tis ou job in goverament to give you in the private sector the

‘opportunity to do what you do best,

‘This conference is designed to help develop a national strategy that will enable us to do jst that

‘Together, we can and wll make the future brighee fr everyone Because is the collective decisions

‘of more than 250 milion Americans, and more badly, of 5 billion individuals worlwide, that

‘lmatly will determine our progres toward stainable development Inthe quest to understand

‘ur universe we have leamed more about ourselves And as we understand more, we realize that out

‘destiny lies in protecting the ecological system which sustains our Hives

‘As President Kennedy once sai, "it sour task in ou ime ad in our generation to hand doven

‘undiminished to those who come after us, a was handed downto us by those who came befor, the natural wealth snd beauty which sours,” Let us use science, technology, education and partnerships

to fulfil his task and along the way crete jobs and strengthen our economy That is the srategy Hạt will benefit us today and benefit the generations of tomorrow Thank yo Tor your role in making this possible

Address by Ralph Peterson Chief Executive Officer, CH2M Hill Corporation Introductory Remarks by John Gibbons: Ralph Peterson isthe Chet Executive Officer of CH2M Hill Corporation, the nation's largest environmental consulting, engineering, and remediation fim

‘As Co-Chair of the Colorado Environmental Business Alliance, he has worked to build partnerships

‘among companies inthe environmental industry and also with other private and public sector

‘rzanizatons In ation, he co-chairs the National Congress for the Advancement of Minors in Environmental Professions

[Ralph Peterson: Asan engincer and businessperson let me begin by sharing some of what I‘hink are some important numbers that ae going to affect each and everyone of us Alf you here today

‘probably know a fot of numbers behind the concept of sstinable development, and you probably believe the numbers are important or you would not be here But what is ess clear from the statistics ishow they form the bass ofan economic frame work that wil shape the future of American business

~ and not just environmental technology busineses like the one T head, but also of manufacturing

nd process industries, the clients we seve, indeed, the private andthe public economie structure of the nation,

‘Aste Vice President si, the current population of ou plane tan at roughly 55 bilion persons, all of whom manage to survive ona total land area of about $8 milion square miles Think about two points Fis, of his 55 billion persons who inhabit the planet, the majority of them ive under what

a, frankly, frightening economic conditions Indeed, more than abillion of those people somchow

‘Survive with apereapta income of less than a dollar a day So, the level of global industrial and

‘economic growth that is going tobe needed wo meet even the most base neds ofthe present

population is enormous,

But, secondly, the experts tel us that over the ext four or five decades, the world population is likely to each abou ten billion people To provide even the most asi living standards fora tice

"the present size world populations going to requir a level of global economic and industrial

development thats maybe five tote mes todays level depending on exactly how one defines

“basic and how one defines a “standard of living" And while al ofthis population growth and Indusval and economic development is racing alon, the land surface area of our planet ssl $8 nillon square mils We simply must recognize that land, water and aie llved to human endeavors

‘on this planet are never goin to expand

‘This situation ells me that sustainable development isa whol lot more than a theoretical nation, Whether ite inthe effect ofthe price and cost of the products we use a the products and services

we sll or the quality of our lives or the more dire crcumstanees and results of disease and

Starvation, every person on tis planet has a pesonal stake in the successful melding of those

‘economic and environmental aspirations about which the Vie President just commented In plain economic terms it means that we wil either find a way to manage te sustainable development of our finite world, o our finite world wil increasingly manages,

Now inthe economic and business context, this tls me that echnology fora sustainable fare wil,

in fact, be a fundamental bass for economie development, Successful innovation by which we wil advance technology will increasingly define the competitive advantage of companies and even of countries Our economic future as businesses and asa nation will depend on us gesting

1B

Now let me sate emphatically that am optimistic about what this means to all of usin this room and all of us in this county tis, infact, within our power to meet the challenge ofa sustainable future Including deiveing on its economic promise fr our children and for our children’ children And the

‘main way to achive that sustainable future, as the Vice President suggests, is through the

cooperative and coordinated efforts of private enterprise, government, academia and pubic interes -wetps to sift to those, I bliee his term was, new tchnology trajectories

‘That sa good term because we nced technology trajectories that are focused on tomorrow's needs, not yesterday's ajectoris that are going to make us comptitive in tomorow’ marketplace and trajectories that are based on new alliances that can breakthrough the long-standing adversarial paradigms that nedlesly divide us One of the reasons why am optimistic abou the collective future isthe mounting evidence that lot of alliances that we are talking about ae already begining

ro ake shape

ere inthis country, fr example the trend in industry is quite clear Is toward finding common round among businesses, the publi, and environmental interests An example that comes to mind is the linkage that Georgia Pacific and the Natre Conservancy have formed which has moved far beyond their past differences to collaboration to preserve critica habitat and provide longterm and

‘abl business growth You can se the tend in the breakthrough innovations like wetland banking that protect and expand wetland preserves while secommedating vital and needed port and shoreline development

Analliance which s coming together my home sat of Colorado is focused on a-rsk youth, This

‘ery promising public-private partnership, which interestingly is a dret result ofthe launching of the Administrations Technology fora Sustainable Future initiative, involves several federal

agencies, state and local government, andthe Colorado Environmental Business Alliance in ‘advancing taining education and jobs in environmental busines,

‘You can se the trend in the new generation of manufacturing processes that have envionmental considerations designed nto them from the stat 1 hin that a time goes by these alliances and paradigm shifts wil become the rule rather than the exception Now, of course, some critics and {yt are going to argue that while it may have been possible at sore past tine to develop solutions and approach issues from a shared community perspective, ou current combative political and

‘economic situation no lager supports that kindof an approach,

‘They might question that, alter years of regulatory and other feds and politcal skirmishes is it really reasonable to thnk hat government and industry and ive institations can infact work in concerto advance the long-term common good and global good? [sugges lt of thats happening Fight under our noses, maybe on a grander scale than we rally eclize

‘Yeats from tay 1 will bet you that someone will adress an aience like this nd wil reflect back

to today, to this year and they will talk about the profound impact ofthe North American Free Trade

‘Agreement (NAFTA) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) on sustainable evelopment Here is what Tsay to that Today in Mexico and Latin America, for example,

‘companies such asthe one Ileal are finding opportunites to share and apply environmental

technologies in ways tha simply did nt exist before

By dismanting long-standing trade barriers, US environmental expeise and technology combined with plbal financial resources anda more empowered local citizenry are making momentous progress toward environmentally responsible economic development, And if you think about what

“

that could mean, jus imagine providing a new generation of industrial ecology and environmental technology to the economic development of Mexico, Latin America o the rest ofthe world What we

ae talking about is a whole new global economic composition

‘This past summer I participated in China's Agenda 21, a national conference aimed at sting the

‘sustainable development framework and policy agenda for that giant nation in the new millennia

‘And elsewhere around the world the sor isthe same

‘The best analogy Ian draw isha of an orchestra In his analogy, we as w mation have an impresive aay of musical instuments We have some tuly oustanding musicians But what we ae stil rising isthe orchestration and maybe the right downbeat et this "economic symphony (0 use Maurice Strong's term) into motion To me, this conference i abou shaping tha orchestration, doing o by developing sound policy and by fostering the publi private partnerships that we hope will continue to evolve

1s not going tbe easy to get the job done Those of us whose companies have grown up and

‘volved under the command and contol regulator driven marketplace are, frankly, going to have to Team some new ways of doing busines, But if we Til to respond to the ne economic realities, we

‘will ulimately be replaced by those who have responded believe the Viee President and his team

‘Working on this environmental technology iative truly deserve our thanks and praise for their willingness to take oa many difficult issues

‘The epulatory reform concepts that the Vice President spoke about such as agaressvely pursuing Sometimes contentious public private partnerships, and breaking down the arms-length and often adversarial barriers ~ take a lot of politcal courage Ths we owe a debt of gratitude to them because they ae going to help us build a beter future business-wise and otherwise

_Atthe beginning of my address I made a point about my engineering and business background and

my “hard numbers view” of sustainable development Let me eave you with a different look at those numbers I cited earlier When I spoke about the population and the economic growth data, the

‘tistics tht [found the most compelling were about the billion fll human beings who are uel existing on less hana dollar a day Tam dawn to that information because Telly know fnd belive thai we nleash te fll force of American environmental and tecnologia know how, we can hve both good business and goo jobs and we can make an immediate and profound impacto those people inthe world who stugale the most i thet day-to-day existence

‘This pin really came home tome personally during a recent visto Egypt where our company had the good fortune to have provided engineering services for Cair's new water system As Twas touring the water facilites, 1 found myself ona iltop in one ofthe oldest sections ofthe ety As 1 Stood there late in the day, I Toaked out across the area below the ancient city and the old homes and the ancient mosque, From that vantage pont dawned on me that fo he fis tein the history of the great Egyptian civilization, the people living nthe ity before me were about to share something

Is

that we tke for granted every day, ie the experience of tuming on clean running tap water in one's home Atthat moment the importance of the economic significance, and indeed, the inevitability of sustainable development in very human terms, was never more clea ome

So, a5 a people, asa nation, as entepreneus, a environmental advocates, 36 teachers, as civ

servants, we inthe United States hve a great many inspiring moments tore for us as we chart

‘those new tecnica trajectories thatthe Vice President talked about to build our sustainable foture

‘And this conference ia great opportunity for us to help shape how we asa nation wll participate in

‘future plobal economy in which technology fo a sustainable future willbe a, if nat the key,

‘competitive difference

‘This is our chance to build a bridget the vision that Vice President Ge deserbed, As Tam sue is the case with al of you, Iceranly am committed to doing everything I can to make it happen, More importantly, Lam convince that together we can see that it ets done

‘Address by Howard Dean Governor of Vermont and Chairman, National Governors’ Association

Introductory Remarks by John Gibbons: Its my great pleasure to inroduce Howard Dean the Governor of Vermon, He has served 3s Governor since 1991 and before that he was the Lieutenant Governor and served inthe Legislature, Before he entered polities, Governor Dean served as 2

‘medical interist am reminded of Thomas Jefferson's statement, “Sit, my profession is pies, but

iy passion is science,” We applaud the way that you are bringing your past passion of medicine and ealth care to your office a Governor; your being chosen by your pees to lead the National

GGoverors’ Association; and your leadership role in health eae, education, community services and,

‘ofcourse, environmental protection,

Howard Dean: Iam pleased 1o be here, bth as Chairman ofthe National Governors’ Assocation

‘and asthe Governor of Vermoat We area very environmentally consious sate, but we have debates aboot regulation, abot atemps to put partnerships together, and most of all about trying t0 find out

‘whether technological advancement and industrial progress are indeed partners or enemies of regulation and environmental preservation, And we conclide tit they have tobe pariner We have

ro choice I think the statistics resented by Vice President Gore and Ralph Peterson about

population growth trends andthe tremendous pressure that population is going to put onthe global environment give us no choice but to make industrial progress The question is: How can we do that Without endangering the environment?

‘Much of Vermont's economy is based on natural resources We are strongly dependent on farms and Forests, not just because theres money in natural resources, but also because Our economy is highly

<ependenton tourism, Visitors to our state lke to se those natural resources, Thi itis extremely important for us to protect the environment Protecting environmental resources is important fo our

‘economy The challenge sto ind way’ to continue to provide for jbs and economic growth while

‘we are protecting natura esoures

A recent eport published by the National Governors’ Association eniled Cultivating Green

‘Businesses highlighted the opportunities of green technologies The report cited the need to make available information about markets for business and technologies, and to estblish networks among key players to foster environmental businesses These activities are extremely important and publc= private partnerships can play a major role 1am proud to say that, as Vice President Gore noted, this

‘conference is being simultaneously tansribed on the Inemet This being done bythe

“TogetherNet Foundation from Burington, Vermont, Networking is bviowsly very important,

‘Conferences ike this ar very helpfl, and there are numerous examples of similar conferences

‘where people have met eachother, done business together, and furthered bath environmental

protection and industrial advancement

“The report also cited the need by environmental businesses for assistance in comping in foreign

‘markets cannot stress strongly enough how important the Geeral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT and the North American Fee Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and any funher expansion of [NAFTA are You may remember thatthe ancestry of NAFTA was the Canadian Free Trade

[Agreement before we brought Mexico in That happened in the late 1980s, In the fist thee years Mtr that happened, Vermoats exports 9 Canada doubled Vermont exports Canada are now about the same as those of Massachusets eventhough we have one-tenth the population OF course beng right across the border from Canada makes aig diference In any event, as soon as ade

0

bariers come down more people do business This means more jobs, both in Vermont and in Canada

In the case of GATT and NAFTA it will mean more jobs around th world

Free tad avery good thing for environmental proteton, Ifyou think the United Sats has problems wit a third ofits waters being non potable, imagine the problems ofthe Third World The

US environmental technology industry, which isthe best inthe world, now has the opportunity to compete well in foreign countries Helping US environmental businesses to compete in forigh

‘markets, and helping to finance environmental technology development by our smal businesses, are

‘itieal needs, There have besn excellent hings done in some of the states Fr example, Alaska and [New York put up money that helped small businesses with excellent ieas and excellent technology tomove ahead, Providing such assistance isa critical ole forthe federal government, and forthe sew Congress

‘South Dakota are not going tobe abl to compete if we get rd ofthe federal role in haping small, businesses and emerging technologies Alaska with is ol resources ean compete New York, with huge population base relative to ater states, can compet The states with relatively small

populations, however, are simply not going tobe abe to compete without federal help That means that some federal agencies ned to contin to function because they are extraordinarily helpful 0 states in fostering and supporting technology

‘Supporting recycling technologies and markets s absolutely critical Regulations canbe helpful in this regard Abou four or ive years ago we passed in Vermont laws that required a cerain aroun of trash tobe recycled, We id this fr environmental reasons, What that did was to increase,

‘ultimately, the cost of disposing of tranh in andfils ad incineration And that, essentially, forced technology Over the last fe years there have Been many teclogies and many compas which

‘have benefited immensely by that And recycling has gone from being kind ofan on-the-finge notion

‘that peopl ike me followed when we Were in collage because it was a good thing fr the eth, to

‘something that major corporations all over the county are doing

‘The culverts ares ight that any one of you inthe audience and I could seta 24-foot culvert ross a

‘oa Fity percent of those culverts ae made with reyeled material Why? Because tis available and cheap The success in reeycTing was begun because of government regulation But ultimately, fer the creation of a market forthe products, it has now become a way of life for major corporations

‘with remendous industrial applications,

Let me give you nother example IBM Corporation has the biggest chip manufacturing plant in the

‘country in Essex uneton, Vermont, IBM uses just about every element on the periodic table make its products Over the last thre years, they have deceased the toxins that they putin thea by over

50 perent a remarkable achievement They dd itt save money They recycle alot ofthe products they use now instead of venting them either int the aor the water, Why di this save money for TBM? Because the federal government andthe sate government established reputions and

standards that meant it would be very costly to contin pting those chemical int thea and into

8

‘he water In oher words, by setting standards, government changed the markets and then the ree

‘market responded

So, to say that we are going to deregulate everything and let the marketplace decide how to clean up

‘he environment isa mistake, Instead, we need flexibility in regulation We donot need to get rid of sandards, What x happening in envionmental technology today is that, because of regulation and standards, we are simply now, forthe first ime, realizing the tue costs of making products because the disposal of thse products is now incoporated into the pricing process That hs to continue

‘Thus we need to inate regulatory reforms

(On December, Land other governors met with Carol Brower, the Administrator ofthe US

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and she gave us Some very good news Here isan example

‘of exactly what government shouldbe doing When the Clean ir Act was passed there were

‘numberof tough standards that were promulgated to controlar pollution, We, and industry in general, have dove atetfc jb cleanin up stationary sources We have achieved major reductions although it has been tough and expensive In age par ithas been a very successful story, although

‘we clearly have more to do Ttaso is very clear that if we ae serous about job creation, stationary Sure pluton is going to gradually increase This is Because even le cư eighty percent of the tatonary emissions, when you have growth, emissions will continue, albeit fom much Tower baseline lis much mor effective to go after mobile sources an approach not pursed much in the past decade

‘Now the Enhanced Inspection and Maintenance Program is designed to reduce stationary source pollution Congress and the BPA not oly se the standards but they proseribe the exact technology

‘we would have to use in order to meet those standards, Lam not going to go int the details, but

‘basicaly fany of you are from Maine, you know what the imposition ofthat technology meant During a election year the papers wer full of stories of disgruned customers waiting i lines for hours eying together cas inspected using a technology which was so expensive tha there could only be very fe inspection salons That was disaster Many other governors, not wanting to experience similar disasters in an election year, went othe EPA Administatr and sid, "We cannot continue to have this And what the EPA said was, "We will ot lower the standards, we wil get fd ofthe proscription that you have to use this technology You may use cheaper ones and we will give

‘you alot of lexibiity in how to meet these standard, even going back 1o stationary sources if that i

‘what you think you need in your state"

‘Thats my ida of the kind of regulatory reform which helps a tremendous amount Consumers Wi

‘be happier and they will accept the technology The technology wil be diferent and it wil be more widely dispersed leading to les inconvenience But te bottom in is that the st wil be cleaner and

‘more jobs wl be created, Those ae the kinds of regulatory reforms that we really need ose

Let me give you one other example To deal with he Clean Air Act, Vermont and some other ortheaster states were each permitted to setup an Ozone Transport Commission inorder to reduce

‘mobile sources so that we could inetease jobs in industry by increasing stationary source emissions,

‘The automobile industry is pushing the so-called "ony-seven state altemative.” They sid, "Look, ont force ust sell electric cars that we can't sll because they are too expensive, Dont force ws to

‘do that We will be willing volunarily to build a car thats substantlly cleaner, not justo be used

in the northeast, but tobe used al over the country withthe exception of California, Massachusets and New York which already hae existing statues requiring mandatory sales level.” My own view

TS tei! Lets go frit! Let us work out the compromise But, believe that though we nocd to

‘move away From the mandatory sales peovision ofthat forty-seven state proposed compromise, we

”

‘mus still have some regulation or target which forces technology Remember the examples Lused about reeyeTing and abou IBM The forty-seven state alteatve is tefific It unshackls industry From mandatory sales quotas tht we know are not going to work Bu the foy-seven state

alterative will never advance the technology of electric vehicles unless there some recognition by industry that there must be regulatory forcing of technology in some way So there must bea balance Life isa balance Exuemes end up not working because they ate often ideologically based and not base on practical, easonabl experience The ext two years will mean an exciting time for both Democratic and Republican goverors because there will be more responsibility passed on othe states And I hope there also wll be more regulatory flexibility for those in industry But as we move orward inthe next to years, lets not eliminate all of those things that we ae suspicious aboot until we have decided whether they worked of not, George Santana sid, “Those who do no ear

‘om history ase doomed to repeat it" Tunderstand that Newt Gingrich, the new Speaker ofthe House, sa student of history hope that be will understand that there have been some very

‘suecessful things that have been done, bth inte private sector and atthe stat level because of regulation Thope he wil recognize tht as we are moving towards les government interference We

‘should not remove government entirely from role in improving environmental technology and in helping to create associate jobs inthis county and the Weel

20

Address by Jonathan Lash President, World Resources Institute

‘Co-Chair, the President's Council on Sustainable Development Introductory Remarks by John Gibbons: Jonathan Lash s President ofthe World Resources Institut, a non-profit center based in Washington, D.C, focusing on research and development in

‘environmental and energy poicy on a global bass He was appinted by President Clint to serve asthe Co-Chair ofthe Pesiden’s Council on Sustainable Development He bas long been leader in the envzonmenta eld, ichading trough the Natural Resouces Defense Council and the Verrnont, Natural Resourees Ageney, and while serving as the Dean of the Law Sehool of the University of Vermont,

Jonathan Lash: I wan to particularly ecognize the work of Jack Gibbons and Mark Schaefer atthe

‘White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and ofthe rally remarkable interagency _g10up that cooperated to prepare the July 1994 Technology fora Sustainable Fuure (TSF) report and {o organize this conference This inttive isan outstanding example of what canbe done with very Timited resources within goverment

‘Lam particularly pleased to have this opportunity to participate inthis conference and vo attempt to

‘putenvironmental technology development in the context of sustainable development andthe work

‘of the President's Council on Sustainable Development (PCSD) Ina month, the PCSD will meen

‘Chattanooga, Tennessee, a city which already has begun to pu environmental technology advances

to work The essence of sustainable development is the integration of economic and environmental polices in order to allow us to produce more gods and services with less impact on the

environment Progress in environmental technologies, advanes in the technologies of elficency, and the substitution of intelligence, information, and capital for natural resource use and wast are indispensable if we ae to even hope to achieve the goals of sustainable development

‘offered by technology and wo ereae a hiratchy of technologies in terms ofthe vale each type of technology offers to society in improving ffcieny Thus, the more efficient technologies are those that do more to substitute intelligence and information and capital for natural resources The less efficient are those that doles The leat efficients remediation Controls ae alte beter than

‘emediaton, Process changes ae better than controls and system changes are biter than process changes

By way of example, considera refinery My recent visit India included a visit tothe Taj Mahal which itrally is being eaten by sulfur pollation generated by w nearby sate-owned refinery with no controls One approach to this problem would be remediation Indeed, there are workers who goto

‘the Taj Mahal and pach the marble almost daily Thre is continous work underway trying to remedy the effects ofthe acidification rom the slr on the mast bell piece of architecture I have ever seen But ofcourse it would be fat more efficient and far more weful o simply install

a

scrubbers atthe state-owned refinery That would redce the effects of pollution nt only on the Ta}

‘Mahal, but onthe entire region where pollution’ eects on halt age very high Even more useful,

‘though, would be fo adopt the approach inreasingly being used in the United States,

With regard to the refinery problem is very usefl to thik about system changes that focus onthe process by which ols refined int gasoline ~ and then working to modify that process s0 the

<limination of plloion atthe tacks simply snot necessary because its never erated Many of the

‘models that were mentioned by the Vice President, Governor Dean, and Ralph Peterson se ofcourse

‘examples ofthat kindof polation prevention olltion prevention provides the tremendous benefit

of saving materi, It enables ws tobe more efficent inthe se of raw materials and energy But, proceeding sil farther with this hierarchy of intelligence and efficiency, tals ie useul to think Shout end uses

‘What i were ta develop a personalized advanced monoraitype transportation sytem that enables each of us to move rapidly ad safely from eu homes to the places we to ned to goto? Such a stem is underdevelopment I would allow individuals to gain accesso their own mas transit

‘ists, and would vastly reduce the use of energy because it Would sharply reduce the use of individual automobiles This would be an elegant ad eiient solution that offers great benetits to

‘society Reconsidering my einery example, we should recognize thatthe best ay to rece the pollton from the stack is not through contols on the stacks but by reducing the demand forthe product ofthe refinery

We also need to think even futher down the chain of end-use othe use ofthe information

superhighway instead of the Beivay We need to move electrons instead of people, and allow people

to get work done where they are and not require them to move their bodies around inorder

complete their work This Would be a far more efiient snd far more elegant solution than even rapid

| suggest that this hierarchy offers important opportunities not jus in reducing polation and in increasing efficiency As you move tthe higher order technologies, those tat subsiute more {mtelligence, more information and more capital for natural resouree use, you end up with

technologies that are not only more eieint, bu technologies that provide mulliple benefits to

‘society rather than the single benefit ofenvionmental protection, Iis more use to us o prevent hzardous waste than to remediate it and its more wsefl to change the activites that generate it than simpy to contol it atthe outlet Such an approach is more useful to society in temas of

‘economic goal and environmental goals

Higher-order environmental technologies have proven to offer sigifiant management opportunites

‘They are the key tothe adaptation othe trends diving the Tutre identified by the Vice President snd by Ralph Peterson And they offer enormous retums on investment One company with which I have Been working closely has calculated the returns on is contro investments adits polation [prevention investments ove the lst several years Concerning those investments tha have been nade simply to comply with envzonmental regulations, the firm his atained a minus 12 percent

‘tum on investment, Concerning investments made i pollution prevention, it has atained plus

152 percent returm on investment Plltion prevention provides an enormous bottomline

‘opportunity in most cases an even greater botom-line oppomnity than the creation of new products Wis premise of the White House's TSF report, and of the presentations ofthe speakers who have preceded me this moring, that fr society lø benef suficienly there must be a government role in

‘promoting environmental technology Firs, many of the benefits that are secur, the environmental

2

benefits, are non-market benefits They do nt show up in the price of products because pices do not include the environmental costs Second, there already i an enormous governmental role through regulations which can either dive or obsret technological change, through the enormous federal investments in environmental technology, and though military space and ivan research,

Historically, government plie has had an enormous impact an choices of technology 1 recently heard someone who had been involved in the origin ofthe semiconductor industry sa that he billions of dollar of federal funds thatthe industry could use lexibly during is early development enabled the industry to grow rapidly Further, asthe Vice President and Ralph Peterson pointed out,

‘our competitors are intervening inthe development of these technologies I's avery compesive

‘word

What can government do? Itcan push the development of technology through regulatory mandates

An example isthe California 2ro-emission vehicle, That mandate, unpopular as its withthe

‘manufacturers of automobiles, has led fo an explosion inthe development of practical, marketable electric vehicle technology was in California last week atthe electric vehicles convention Every

‘major auto maker from the industrialized world was therewith an electri vehicle tha they intend to

‘market, orn many cass already ae marketing, in California General Motors has developed

‘wonderful car thats fst, silent, reliable, costs one-fifth as much to drive than with an internal

‘combustion engine and canbe recharged from central sation power and it would reduce ollation

‘by 50 percont Another example of epulation that has driven change isthe Montreal Protocol [Nations ofthe world agreed that it was absolutely necessary to reduce emissions of

<hlorofluorocarbons but gave industry wide latitude to determine how to mect the targets The

‘mandate has driven a rapid development of altmative technology

In those examples, performance goal was established for which practical technology was not viable at the time it was established The performance goal has driven technological change The danger comes when we go beyond performance goals and established technology standards which, instead of diving technology, freeze technology Most of our current conventional environmental protection laws are based not on performance standards, but on technology standards There is 8

‘whole forest of different technology sundae best available conolled technology and best practical controlled technology Lowest achievable emision rate turns out oe anoer technology

‘Standard The removal of those kinds of obstacles has become one ofthe ental concems of the Presden’s Counil on Sustainable Development We have recognized that simply by moving beyond

‘hose obstacles in the environmental regulatory system we will unleash a tremendous energy of technology development and improved efficiency inthe United Stats

“There are othe oles thatthe government can, and does, pla The we of government purchasing power offers a tremendous opportunity to drive technology But in order for this to be successful, We needa tategy to overcome the massive inentia and single-mindedness of Federal procurement regulations Vice President Gore has played a big role in ying to breakdown that rigidity and allow treater freedom We have to specifically say that one of the goal of procurement reform is improved environmental efficiency Iti not justin civilian research and eivilian procurement ha those

‘opportunites exist, but also inthe enormous military research expenditures, It is possible to pall technology though financial incentives

‘The TSF report identifies a numberof options with epardo supporting esearch through ox

‘benefits In this regard itis important to not tobe 00 timid, We create wealth out of labor capital and natural resources Greate efficiency in br use of natural resources creates both economic benefits and enormous envitonmental benefits That isthe esence of what we achieve trough

‘environmental technologies, particularly higher-order environmental technologies Perverely,of|

bì

course, we tax labor and capital and subsidize natural esource use, Over 90 percent ofthe tilion

<ollars-plusin taxes thatthe federal government raises comes from taxing labor and capital and Tess

‘han 10 percent comes by taxing consumption and waste Means, tere are multi-billion dollar subsidies forthe use of natural resources Tat distortion means an appalling burden for technology

to ear, since those who make decisions in te free market make decisions in ther self-interest about enhancement of thee botom lines, What i we were o substantially cut the taxes on labor and capital? What if we were to encourage environmental technology by making it ruch more profitable

to invest in capital and intelligence instead of natural resource use? And what if we were to cut those taxes, nt jst a ite bit, but alt, by shifting them on to consumption and waste? Think ofthe size

‘ofthe incentive that could be created by moving some ofthat wilion dllars fom capital onto wast

“That isan enotmous opportunity tis one thats timely because thee isso much discussion of tax

<uts without increasing the deficit Tt would be like a rocket booster under envzonmental technology was very pleased when Ralph Peterson talked about the fat that he alteady sees examples of the kinds of parierships and the kinds of trust that he and Vice President Gore say are necessary hope thatthe PCSD willbe one of those examples The Council includes nine corporate CEOs, si

environmental leaders, representatives of other sectors of society, labor, civil rights, Native

“Americans, and five members of the Presiden’ cabinet, thee of whom will peak to you this

‘moming [Carol Browner, Ron Brown and Hazel OLeary), The PCSD is trying to adress precisely the issues that ave been nied this moming How do we define ou goals with sufficient clarity and sulicient consensus so tht we can give much broader flexibility to those who would achieve them? How can we we inelligence to achieve the goals instead of presriing outcomes? Tam enormously

‘optimistic about whats happening because of the lst five ears in which industry has been

voluntarily undertaking enormous changes A trust has ben created that can become the basis of

‘ery significant progress Indeed, my colleagues atthe Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council have already become pioners in developing those kinds of partnerships

‘ith regard to pollution control My own organization fas collaborated with a number of ndustiee indovelopng tudes on geen accounting and providing beter tools for industries to make necessary

‘hanges And the PCSD has already identified numerous demonstrations of environmental

lechnology at Work fostered bythe kind of trust that we have discussed In conclusion, this isa time

‘of enormous opportunity ad this conference can be the basis to exploit this opportunity throughout the country

Address by Stephen Trachtenberg

President, George Washington University, Washington, D.C

Introductory Remarks by Carol Browner, Adminstrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency: I want to congratulate Jack Gibbons and his colleagues onan incredibly suecessfl event I understand that instead ofthe 600 expected attendees wel overa thousand persons are attending

“This aeal testament to just how important these issues are and how significant the White House leadership on these isues wll be inthe fuUre We ae bere today to find common sense, cst- effective ways to ensure that economie growth goes hand-in-hand with peotectng the health ofthe People ofthis country eur neighborhoods, our communities and the natural resources we hay

‘ura our land and our wate Institutions of higher learning ae a vital partner inthis effort And today, itis my geat pleasure to announce a partnership between my agency the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and George Washington University (GWU), loated jst fur blocks from

‘the White House To begin ths very exciting partnership, we worked together t0 ask how GWU, ould become an environmental leader in all hat it does each and everyday We looked at he

‘university asa physical plant, How ae the buildings heated and cooled? How does GWU deal with receling, lighting, and waste disposal? We looked at the university a5 ahealth care provider sa local community, as part ofthe neighborhood, as a research center, and as aconsumer of technology

‘We also looked at the university as an educator ~ atts curriculum, its waning programs, and most importantly, atts capacity to tran anew generation of environmental leaders and to promote

‘environmental awareness among students, faculty, sa and community members And finally, we looked at this university asa leader among institutions of higher learning ~ not just inthis county, but throughout the word

So, today, the Environmental Protection Agency and George Washington Universit wil sgn an

‘agreement work together to make an environmental ethic a past of al cities a the university

‘want to commend the university for wanting to bea leader among institutions of higher learning And

‘we are very hopeful that because of GWU"s leadership, other instttions of higher learning il Tollow suit and will ook atthe best ways for them to be “green and how they ean best solve the

‘nvironmentl problems at their eampuses and in their neighborhoods, Today's agreement is arly roundbreaking agreement George Washington University isa tail-blazing institution willing (0

‘uckle difficult issues, and to find common sense, cost-effective solutions that wil work fr the institution, forthe city and for this country It is now ry great pleasure to preset to you Stephen

‘Trachtenberg, GWU's President, who has made al ofthis possible Without his vision and his willingness to seta very tough bu important goal, we would not be here today He isa tre leader, a

‘man of great wisdom,

‘Stephen Trachtenberg: I very much appreciate Administrator Browne's kind words, Lam delighted tobe able to speak at this very important White House-sponsored meeting, Iwan to personally thank Vice President Gore, Jack Gibbons, Mark Schaefer, David Rejesk an the whole team atthe White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy aswell as Administrator Brovner and ber

‘management tam and suff at EPA for this very special opportunity I now want to talk bout the roles that green universities can playin moving us toward a sustainable fate, Iwill use the recent experiences and atvities ofthe George Washington University (GWU) tllusrate some ofthese roles and to expand litle on Administrator Browne's introduction,

Universities fulfil thei missions when they develop new paradigms, explore new directions and infuse their students with new and important ideas They can go beyond society's expectations when

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they take a leadership anda stewardship role in changing prevailing culture, creating new vision and alfecting our word in erative and beneficial ways ACGWU, about a year ago, as you heard from

‘Administrator Browne, we decided that we would become a "green university.” We were not quite

‘sire what that meant, I must confess, bt we decided we wanted todo it and we wanted to do iin 8 truly comprehensive sense, I believe that this inittive may well exceed the expectations that many

‘of you may have fr institutions of higher learning With egardto affecting cultural and other changes fora sustainable futur, we concluded that there were five action areas

‘The first was in our administration, our management, nd ou support services The second was in all

of our education, training and outreach programs The tied wasn our esearch activites, whether

‘ve conduct them in the fel, in laboratories or in other settings The fourth was in te providing of healthcare services And the fifth had to do with our facilites, our grounds, our own intittional infrastucture As one of Americas leading universts, we are well-equipped and positioned to ake

‘on these challenges Our faculty, ou staff and our students are culturally diverse ang to the richness of our capacity We have extensive national and inteational education and taining nd futreach programs We havea state-of-the-art analytical and research fcilty and we conduct a wide

‘variety of esearch worldwide We are a mult-campusistution with considerable additional evelopment both under way and contemplated In he District of Columbia, we are arguably the largest private sector employer Additionally, GWU uses the services of more than 26,000 vendors

‘The approximately 31,000 individuals who make up our eampus,facully, students and staff have an

‘economic impact onthe local and regional economy estimated tobe 1 billion dollars year We think of ourselves asa university that matters, one that is onthe threshold ofits 17Sth anniversary

LAnd so when we fist started our gcen university enterprise, we had some lfty ambitions about

‘what we had in mind Ou students and faculty joined in with enthusiasm Ranging fom our

undergraduate College of Ars and Sciences to our graduate schools fr business engineering,

‘medicine, lw the slences and the social sciences including international afar, the staff came forward todo thee part You will understand that these are key individuals within a university They

"preset the thousands of people who plan and operate and maintain ou buildings and our grounds

‘They buy our supplies and equipment The response from outside the campus has been equally affimative,

So thas not been dificult for me asthe President of GWU to justify our activities in this egard to

‘our diverse constinents and to our Board of Trustees, Tisis case where the leadership role forme and my management team has come embarassing easy To put it simply, we view ths initiative as just plain ood business We belive that being an institutional leader in this area will give the "university a competitive advantage in today's educational, research and health ere marketplace By

‘strengthening our atactveness and reruiting marketing and sales, by conserving precious natural

‘resources, by citing down on energy consumption and reducing our operating expenses, and

‘generally by making our financial and other resources go fuer as we expand our available capital land operations, we wil be creating new profesional opportunites and generating new jobs We also will be stimulating long-erm economic gow, improving and sustxning the envionment, nd

‘enhancing the health ad wellness of our citizens All of this makes us more productive and more efficient probably means that we can better contol and keep reasonable our ution rates, and provide us with more resources that ou faculty members ned in order to do thei eachng and their research,

‘To facilitate ll ofthese things we appointed a 50-member taskforce, with representatives from out studet body, faculty, and staf to help o plan the course for our greening We aso invited federal and local government oficial o participate We are extraordinaily appreciative of their sport,

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‘The Director ofthe District of Columbia's Polltion Prevention Committee, for example, has

participate in our taskforce In addition, on campus We created an Institute forthe Environment

‘Which cut across the various colleges and school and which serves to facilitate and coordinate our various intercollegiate initiatives Getting departments and colleges and schools within a university

to give p their prerogatives and their sense of tur is difficult The tsk force andthe institute are

‘ery helpful Our goal hasbeen to fully integrate the greening eff into our overall management and

‘operations rather than have cach individual department look after its piece

[As we sate tis process we began a conversation with various offices of the US Environmental Protection Agency both at the headquarters snd in EPA Region Three They immediately helped us

in the conceptualization and eration of ou plan Tey gave us technical assistance anda great deal

of hopful information at our earliest meetings At our invitation, senior EPA staff joined us on campus and helped us with our university decision making ther federal agencies also became {mteresied and involved We have seized the opportunity to creat a special synergy Now we ae formalzing the GWU-EPA relationship to which Administrator Browne referred, We have crested

‘what we think isa unique public-private partnership to create what we belive wil be the irs

national model green university

‘To.advance our efforts we have ecetly developed relations with a umber of organizations For

‘example, we are working with Pubic Technology, Incorporated (PTD, which assist loc

{governments here and abroad on environmental nd other technology-related matters, PTs the non profit research and development technology transfer and commercializaton arm of the National League of Cites, the National Associaton of Counties, andthe International City-County

‘Management Association, Working trough EPA, we ae planning initiatives with the US

‘Committe for the United Nations Environment Programme (USUNEP), which is working with GWU toexport the environmental technology products and otber products and services that we ienerate with PTT and ou other partners Our work with USUNEP is targeted o reach state and federal-level agencies and non-governmental organizations inthe United State and abroad GWU and EPA also intend to coordinate with other colleges and universities to export models and

information GWU already has in place relationships with many educational institutions including Some ofthe Historically Black Colleges and Universite A number of environmental justice projects

ae also curently being explored We are working with a varity of other organization such asthe

‘National Wildlife Federation's Campus Outreach Division andthe Student Environmental Action Commitee

ALGWU we are fortunate tobe able to build this comprehensive greening iniiatve ona well

‘siablshed foundation of historic environmental activities Some have been in place for many yeas

|AtGWU we offer over a hundred course elated tothe environment in six differen degree

programs Recjling efforts have been underway atthe university for several years and we ae 8 Participant inthe EPA's Green Light program The university bas for more than en years used a

‘number of alternatively fled vehicles to transpor various supplies around the campus Several student environmental groups, such asthe Environmental Law Assocation at the GWU National [Law Center, ar ative on carapus Wear planning to bud another residence hall for our stents and the GWU University Medical Cente is proposing o renovate our curtent hospital ad to build an

‘ditional facility These construction projects are expzcted to employ a numberof innovative

‘environmental technologies and they wil Serve to demonstrate the application of some state-of the-

fr sustainable development principles

“The lewer of understanding and agreement between GWU and EPA provides an overarching

framework for our collaboration with EPA and other agencies and organizations on projets of|

a

‘mutual interest and benefit I sets forth a number of broad objectives, While we have already made

‘significant progress on the outreach aspects of our partnership with EPA, today at this conference

‘Administrator Browner and are formally announcing the signing ofthis historic landmark accord

In closing, etme not that we seek ways to work together fo change our cultural pradigms and to

‘overcome the barriers that slow us in advancing behavioral, technological and other needed changes, Lotus seek new types of partners and form creative new partnership Together, we can perform cutting-edge research, develop and test models, and commercialize and diffuse new and innovative technologies Our sons and daughters, the children of our alumni, you children and mine in the coming generations, deserve no less than the very best collaborative efforts to safeguard and enhance their fare,

NOTE: EPA's Administrator Browner and GWU's President Trachtenberg signed the letter of| Understanding and agreement]

Address by Hazel O'Leary Secretary of Energy Introductory Remarks by John Gibbons: Hazel OLesry, the Secretary of Energy, pays an active role in promoting environmental concen and in using the resources ofthe Department of Enerzy (DOE to the ends so clearly espoused by the President and the Vice President In particular, at DOE she has emphasized energy efficiency, renewable energy, technology transfer, and environmental restoration, And she has acted on these commitments in working to shift DOE's budget and infact,

‘DOE's culture, toward envitonmental technologies for theft, must also remind you that

recently the Department of Energy, asisted by the Deparment of Defense, succesfully brought to

‘he United States fom insecure situations in Kazakhstan enough highly enriched uranium to make two dozen nuclear weapons This sone ofthe greatest adventures or escapades ofthe 1990s, which involved both Secretary O'Leary and the Vice President directly and personally They doserve our congratulations Haze! O'Leary is dedicated to achieving change and enewal She is an ambassador {oc an efficient and open government and she i personally commited advocate for environmental

‘stewardship Itis with great pleasure that introduce Secretary OLeary

Hazel O'Leary I will begin by commenting onthe Technology fora Sustainable Future workshops held this fll round the country At these workshops business people and representatives frm other _roups have focused close attention on the question of sustainable technologies A common

‘Viewpoint expressed ar the workshops by industry representative, for example, fom the pulp and paper industry, hasbeen tha to ge the jb done industry seeks lexiblty onthe pat of government Inthe lst year the Department of Energy (DOE) has red to provide business with exbility and taken other initiatives to help industry with regard to envionmental technology

Certainly, the flexible iniiatves allowed inthe Clean Ait Act Amendments send song signals 0 those who are ready to take advantage of litle freedom ~-to take actions that make sense to their business, Flexibility is also inherent in the initiatives coming out ofthe Global Climate Plan,

including Global Climate Challenge and Climate Wise Many large industries with huge capital costs

‘recognize that pollution and environmental responsibilty are now bottom line busines iss As [DOE's Joe Romm says, "if you ean reduce pollution fom inception, it pays,” That is what we are all bout, So, i the government can lean ss we did in Climate Challenge snd Climate Wise to simply Setthe performance standard, step back and le the business community stp in then we get a shot at unleashing alot of creative thought, We have seem examples ofthat We need & lot more of this kind

What else need to occur beyond erating a regulatory regime that permits lexibilty? We need to hhave coming out ofthis conference strong suggestions about how we look at individual facilities and apply performance standards there We ned some clearcut ideas and some eter for changing standards

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How do you transfer this technology? T think [have a base of experience to talk shout You can focus simply on DOE's Environmental Management Restoration Program, though you might focus on any

‘other federal agency which ha large environmental agenda which ought tobe both science and technology-deiven We have bee looking at this in DOE for the past 28 months tums out that what we have managed odo isto leverage government funding to pevatize environmental

technologies at about one to one: 80 percent government, 0 percent private sector That sa good beginning but Tknow that we can do beter For example, out facility at Hanford which i now being bul is tobe opened up forthe express purpose of inviting business into participate in technological development which ll addres the clean-up problems at Hanford We certainly need lots more technology to solve difficult problems,

‘At Savannah River, we have come from behind the fence 1 work closely with he private sector concerning the problems there We established an environmental center to invite the private sector in

‘o participate Furthermote, this year DOE and other federal agencies which have responsibilities for environmental management and testoration have come together [in the Inleragency Environmental

‘Technologies Offic] to invite the private sector in to participate These are the kinds of examples of things that we need to stay focused on,

‘Most importantly forte shor term, we need to put ourselves in a positon to call positive attention tobe focused on those leaders nthe private sector who have come tthe table to participate in voluntary programs Carol Browne, the Administrator ofthe Environmental Protection Agency, joins me today in recognizing some companies which have paicipated ina voluntary program which ‘we call Climate Wise The program focuses on large industrial and manufacturing facilites making

‘commitments o reduce greenhouse emissions voluntarily The companies being recognized were First at the table 1 would point ou to you tha the uty industey brought more than 800 companies

to sign these agreements, Iis important fo celebrate such private sector effort

(Energy Seeretary Hazel O'Leary and EPA Administrator Carol Browner then presented awards to six companies: Dupont Corporation; AT&T; Johnson & Johnson; Martin Maret; Phitzer Graphics; and Quad Graphics

(Carol Browner Remarks at Awards Ceremony: Iam grateful to Secretary O'Leary for the

‘opportunity to work with the Department of Energy on the Climate Wise Program This program isa very important component of the President’ pln o protect public health and our natural world by reducing greenbouse gases The companies that we are honoring today have al taken avery g004, hard look at how they do business And they each have made changes that make sense for them and forthe envionment The changes will help them conduct their busines ina cleaner, cheaper, and smarter way Finding common sense, costeffetive solutions that work fr businesses, or

communities and fr our environment is atthe heart ofthe Clinton Administration's approach 0

‘environmental protection, The companies participating in Climate Wise have already made a commitment o reduce their emissions by over 20 million metie tons Tha represents almost 20 percent ofthe etre Climate Change Action Plan, And the cost savings that they are achieving are truly remarkable

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‘Address by Ron Brown Secretary of Commerce Introductory Remarks by John Gibbons: Secretary Brown has been a strong advocate of

promoting the export of environmental technologies to help iustrate the Administration's message that economic growth and environmental protetion can go hand-in-hand He also has been a

‘evolutionary within the Deparment of Commerce to involve the National Institut for Standards and

‘Technology to create public-private consortia in high-risk but high-socal payoff endeavors, Under Secretary Brown's leadership the Department released its experimental export strategy just year

‘ago And the Secretary has played a vigorous personal role in his activity, not only hee at home With the Deparment, but in his avels overseas Is witha great deal of pleasure that [int

Secretary Ron Brown,

Ron Brown: Lam honored tobe with you, and very pleased to follow two stars of cur

‘Administration, Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary and EPA Administrator Carol Browner We work

‘very closely together also have the pleasure and privilege of working very closely with ack

Gibbons, who is playing such an important role in helping the Administration to focus on these Issues To tell you the truth, I had no idea that there would be a thousand people here today This Speaks very well af how far we have come ~and ofthe public-private partnership that we advocate 1 {ink itis working As we look tothe future, tis an essential partnership if we are to be competitive inthe 2ist century

leis esfc that we have arrived atthe point inthe United States where there can be a White House

‘Conference on Environmental Technology We remember the fierce debate that ook place in our

‘country not long ago between those who were focusing on economic grow ad job creation onthe

‘ane hand, and thse who were focusing on our responsibility forte stewardship ofthe environment

fn the other hand However, we discovered jus afew short years later that we have a whole new

‘Sector of ou economy called envionmental technology that is employing tens of thousands, arguably hundreds of thousands, of American workers Tean see atme when environmental technology if

‘we have a plan and a srategy and we implement them when environmental technology could be the bigest export that America bas

‘This shows how fas the world is changing It means that we can no longer be satisfied in doing the things we have always done just ite bit beter We have to do whole lot of new and diferent things We need to think in new and diferent ways if we are going to met the challenges of the futur, No group of people recognizes this more clearly than those assembled here fortis White House Conference Environmental technology, as we know is no longer just something we alk about

In esoteri terms or in sity scientific terms Its very much apart ofthe changing economic and

‘socal agenda, not only of the United States, but ofthe entire planet

resident Clinton has clearly rejected the idea that we must choose between jobs and the

cavironment The facts that we cannot enjy sustained economic growth without a healthy

‘environment And te environmental technology industry will help to make this happen

Environmental technologies are nat only a growth industry creating American jos by selling

innovative products and services around the world, they also contribute toa beter quality of ie for allof ws,

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‘The Deparment of Commerce is realy the Sustainable Development Deparment, We have within

‘ur purview international rade and export promotion, civilian technology, and oceanic and

!umospheri issues We talk about economic growth and jobs and sustainable development and

‘once forthe environment in the same breath, in th same Sentence, so to speak We know that itis important to understand that environmental technologies are relly the driver of our efforts to create igh quality, high wage jobs forthe American people to increase competitiveness among our

businesses and expand exports and achieve clean ai, water and soil for our communities

‘And so we ate building te public-private partnership that pts the ool of growth into the hands of {the private sector The private sector has to lead We in government canbe better and more effective pariners, but we ae just that, partners ina supportive sense The primary mission of my department {sto work with you in the private sector to create even greater opportunities for American companies and for American workers The development and commercalzation of environmental technology by

‘working in parership with private industry is a comerstone of our agenda Fom the partership for

«new generation of vehicles, the so-called clan cr iniatve, to individual research grant and

‘arinersips in advanced technology, the Commerce Department is working with private industry to suppor new environmental technologies

‘Lot me ak about just one of ou efforts That isthe Rapid Commerciaizaton Initiative (RCD that, Viee President Gore announced this morning, The RCI will bea high priority at the Commerce Department, We need to knock down the barirs tha slow the commercial use of promising,

‘environmental technologies soa to reap the benefits of American innovation In fiscal year 1994, the portion ofthe federal research and development budget hat fnds, or invests in, environmental technologies wil excced $2.7 billion — with addtional billions being spat privately These are technologies that can create industries and jobs that can save lives, and tat can protect ou precious

‘atural resources

‘But that wil happen ony if we can get the environmental technologies out ofthe laboratories and ino the marketplace We can do so expeditiously The RCI s another important tool for ensuring that cnvironmental technologies developed in the United Stats each the hands ofthe private sector and,

‘ultimately the consumer We ae also working with the private sector to encourage the sales of eco- ficient technologies In today's intensely competitive world, trade and technology are the new tools

‘of American economic survival and, more imporanly, prosperity Trade is our single largest source

‘of employment growth Implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) alone helped to create a hundred thousand new jobs, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and

‘Trade (GATT) isexpected to boost American economic growth by 100 to 200 billion dollars a year creating hundreds of thousands of aditional jobs

‘Ther isa very simple equation and that equation is that American exports equal American jobs I think we have not done a good enayeh ob of communicating so that average Americans understand, relate to, and connect with al ofthis focus on trade agreements and out focus on implementing 3

‘ational export strategy But if you look at the data you have to conclude that, in ict, our economy i

‘more and more expor-dependent Every one bili dollar increase in exports means 20,000 new jobs forthe American people So thsi real This is not just an seademic discussion, Tiss about improving the ives of people tis bout rising standards of living Is providing economic

‘opportunity for people, nat oly herein the United Sates, baal around the globe, Environmental technologies wil bea premier driver of this growing word ade

‘The global matket for environmental technologies is expected to reach 400 billion dollars per yearby the end ofthe decade and 600 billion dollar pr yearby 2010 Over the years, the United States has

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been a prime developer, as we all know, of cuting edge environmental technologies In spite ofthat,

‘ur compaitors inthe envigonmentl technology indus, primarily the European and Japanese, export 20 to 30 percent ofthe environmental technologies goods and services they produce while we herein the United States export only an estimated five percent of our enviro-ech production I the United States can increase the percentage of eur ouput thats expored it wll support more than 725,000 jobs forthe American peopl think we need to focus on this

‘ayn the message of American competitiveness o markets throughout the world have

personally had the opportunity to lead presidential business development or rade missions to South

‘Africa, the Middle East, Russa, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Venezuela, China, and Indonesia,

In these tips we have participated in many environmental technology eoundtabes with foreign

‘government and industry representatives and withthe leaders of American environmental technology

‘companies who have accompanied us These counties are anxious to create the infrastructure of a rowing economy At every instance we have wed the opportunity to promote sustainable

‘evelopment and the use of American environmental technology "This is very important,

Te seems to me that the are that we are focusing oni an area where goverment policy ea really deve demand This is one ofthe few areas in which there can be this kind of direct connection, For example, when we are negotiating a trade agreement, wheter tbe NAFTA or the GATT, whether it

be bilateral or free trade agreements the more we emphasize environmental issues, the more we cause those countries to be customers of ours, Where are they going to look for environmental technology? They are gong to look tothe United Stats of America, th country thats number one inenvronmenta technology So there isa direct connection beeween the policies we promulgate and

‘promote and what the demand is forthe produets that we manufacture andthe services which we Gelver We tink that we have not yet begun fo scratch the surface There s much more we can do

‘working together, working in prtership with the private sector

Let me give you just one example This weekend marked the Summit ofthe Americas that received a 00d del of atention, The stabilization of Latin American economies has opened the door to Investments in environmental technologies The value of the environmental markt in Latin America Isexpected ro reach 12 lin dallas by 1997 Significant markets will emerge in counties such as

“Argentina, Brazil, Venezvela and, of couse, one of ou primary markets now, Mexico Ou

‘department has been working to ensure that our companies are able not ust to compet, but also are able to win the competion,

Following ou tade mission this summer to Latin Ameria, the SI billion C-Vam Projet was

‘awarded to Raytheon fr technologies that wil protect the Amazon rain forests, We supported the Sale with every fiber that we had and the President wrote letter I visited with the oficils who were gọng to make the decisions ona numberof occasions I worked withthe Raytheon executives, We believe that this kindof public-private partnership, supported by this kind of song and hopelly effective advocary, can realy make a profound diference

‘know that we have to continue to work more closely with the private sector to build closer bond,

‘This is why we are cresting the Environmental Technologies Trade Advisory Commitee (ETTAC),

‘Today Ihave the pleasure of fermally announcing the committe and presenting the members to you

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