We believe that from an environmental and economic, global climate change is of the utmost importance. It poses profound threats to international economic development and ecological balance. Hagel said the U.S. government should not commit to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to levels stipulated in the Kyoto Protocol unless developing countries such as India and China also pledge to limit their production of gases that are believed to cause global warming. The Kyoto Protocol did not cover developing countries which are expected set their emissions limits in an upcoming set of climate treaty negotiations. The initiative focuses on mitigation of emissions by targeting clean energy applications, forest conservation and support for policy reform and privatization.
Wildfires release a great deal of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Babbitt cited several success stories during her testimony. The agency's Sustainable Forestry Practices Initiative has reduced by 70 percent the damage caused by poor land management on over 3.4 million hectares of forests worldwide. A rural electrification program in the Philippines has reduced power line losses by three percent and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 250,000 metric tons. These actions have resulted in a two million ton reduction of annual carbon dioxide emissions by power plants of the National Thermal Power Corporation and by the Gujarat Electricity Board. And, finally, we believe that these programs are good, common sense development - and that they are effective.