Date

Jun 22, 1998

Description

Writing to President Clinton about the president’s upcoming visit to China, Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) underscores the point that it is still possible for the U.S. to “seek win-win opportunities with China.” Byrd cosponsored Senate Resolution 98 with Senator Hagel in July 1997 (the Byrd-Hagel Resolution), which declared in a unanimous 95-0 vote that the U.S. should not sign any international climate treaty that lacked legally binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions for developing countries like China. The resolution effectively prohibited the U.S. from ratifying the Kyoto Protocol. In this letter, Byrd encourages Clinton to “urge the Chinese to take a progressive leadership role among the developing countries” and commit to legally binding emissions.

In Clinton’s response to Byrd (attached), written after he returned from China, the president “strongly” agrees that there are many “win-win” opportunities for China in addressing climate change. Clinton outlines that he “addressed global warming on many occasions” with China, specifically regarding market mechanisms. He says he is “hopeful that these consultations will…move the world forward in meeting the challenges of climate change.”

Source

State Department Freedom of Information Act Request

Document published in following posting(s):

“All Roads Lead Through China”: The Clinton Administration, Climate Diplomacy, and China’s Environmental Awakening

Sep 17, 2026

United States Senate Memorandum from Senator Robert C. Byrd to President Bill Clinton about the Climate Change Task Force, 22 June 1998, [Unclassified], and White House Response from President Bill Clinton to Senator Robert C. Byrd, 21 August 1998, [Unclassified]