Department of State, U.S.

THE AREAS OF responsibility of the Department of State are the United States' foreign policy. Also, how foreign policy may impact U.S. security. Therefore, its interests in global warming and climate change are only to the degree that these phenomena may affect international policy or national security.

According to a June 2007 Report to Congress, called The Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act 2005 (P. L. 109–121), “Climate variability is a measure of the degree to which rainfall and temperature vary across seasonal, annual, interannual and even interdecadal time periods compared with a long-term regional climate mean. Climate change refers to long-term, sustained changes in the climate mean itself.” This document states that United States' interests in climate change is strategic because climate change affects water levels, cleanliness, and its availability to poorer nations. The long-term impact of inadequate water in these nations could affect United States' interests, because this could negatively impact their public health which could create unstable governments.

President Bill Clinton strongly supported environmental responsibility. His administration created a new Department of State position to watchdog international environmental conditions, the Undersecretary for Global Affairs. In this way, the foreign policy of the U.S. became concerned with the environment and its stewardship. The position of Undersecretary for Global Affairs was first given to Timothy E. Wirth, a former green senator from Colorado. Wirth served in this position from 1993 until 1997. Following with this environmentalist spirit, Secretary of State Warren Minor Christopher issued a statement on February 14, 1996, stating that U.S. foreign policy would, from that point on, keep the environment and its care in focus, and that Department of State officials must consider this focus when designing international policies [Page 311]or meetings. Like Wirth, Christopher served in his position between the years 1993 and 1997.

A chief concern of President George W. Bush, along with the Department of State, is the reduction of the U.S. dependence on foreign oil. As a fortuitous side effect, through the investigation of other routes of energy generation, science and technology lead towards energy sources that are cleaner and more environmentally responsible than the burning of fossil fuels. In May 2007, President Bush pledged to have a plan by the end of the year 2008, which would encompass an international effort to reduce climate change, with efforts to begin in the year 2012. Countries involved would be major developed and developing countries; in other words, those countries that produce and emit the greatest quantities of greenhouse gases. The United Nations would also be included in this process. To this end, a meeting took place in September 2007 between leaders of the invited nations: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and South Korea, as well as the United States, the United Nations, and the European Union.