5 3 2 7 5 FIED US Department Of State Doc No 305327501 Date 03 03 2015 34 IN United States Department of State 8715382 W wamsgum 0 cuaxeo fa a 29 lo CONFIDENTIAL May 29 1'98 Co of ACTION 545% a OrEginal Signed Letter isiven to Scott Thayer 6 1 87 10 30 a m - BKK TO The Secretary if fin FROM OES - John D Negroponte SUBJECT Ozone Negotiations Letter to Attorney General Meese ISSUE FOR DECISION Whether to write to Attorney General Meese in his capacity as Chairman of the Domestic Policy Council DPC expressing your strong support for the current 0 5 position in the international negotiations on protection of the ozone layer and to propose seeking a decision from'the President if necessary in order to avoid further delay caused by opposition from certain DPC agencies BACKGROUND After several months of negotiation under auspices of the United nations Environment Programme an international accord on protection of the stratosPheric ozone layer is within reach largely on U S _terms Many regard this issue as the most important priority on the global environmental agenda Due mainly to efforts by the Department USIA and Lee Thomas many nations have changed their positions and followed the U S lead in considering a freeze in production of chlorofluorocarbons CFCs followed by significant reductions A Conference of Plenipotentiaries is scheduled for mid-September in Montreal to complete the negotiation and sign the protocol The 0 3 position in this negotiation was developed through intensive interagency deliberations which included the Justice Department leading up to and following the approval by Allen Wallis of a Circular 175 authority last November Recently however some agencies in the UPC primarily Interior and OSTP have raised questions both about the underlying science and about the effects of CFC reductions on US industry Interior argues that since European Community BC countries and Japan did REVIEW AUTHORITY Adolph Eisner Senior DECL OADR Reviewer UNCLASSIFIED 0 8 Department of State Doc No 005327501 Date 03 03 2015 EIED US Department of State Doc No 305327501 Date 03 03 2015 CONFIDENTIAL 'not follow the US near-total ban of CFCs as aerosol propellants in 1978 they should be required to do so before further reductions are scheduled The US in fact proposed this four years ago and it was rejected on the grounds that even with the aerosol ban US per capita use of CFCs exceeds the EC and that most of the long-lived CFCs which will continue for decades to damage the ozone layer originated from US production Positions proposed by Interior and OSTP would undo the progress achieved to date and make the Administration appear less serious about protecting the ozone layer than the EC and many other countries see articles at Tab from the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal Such a 0 8 policy reversal would damage our international credibility unleash major ddmestic criticism and probably result in unilateral U S centrol actions Lee Thomas and I believe that the U S position is responsible and pragmatic prudently addressing the environmental risks while providing a market stimulus and a reasonable time frame for industry to develop alternative products We believe that the DPC process is not functioning well and could cause needless embarrassment to the Administration on an issue which is attracting growing attention from Congress and public interest groups We therefore propose that you write directly to Meese in an effort to re establish a credible 0 3 negotiating position The National Security Council staff concurs in this judgment Under secretary Wallis approved this letter before he left today I would be pleased to discuss further details if you wish Recommendation That you sign the letter to Mr Hesse at Tab A Attachments Tab A Letter to Mr Meese Tab Washington Post and Wall Street Journal Articles May 29 Drafted W0847y 5 29 87 Clearances D Mr Timbie E Mr Bailey i L Ms Verville b1 a g EB Mr Cundiff Thomas Pugliaresi subs CONFIDENTIAL UNCLASSIFIED US Department of State Doc No 005327501 Date 03 03 2015                     National Security Archive    Suite 701  Gelman Library  The George Washington University    2130 H Street  NW  Washington  D C  20037    Phone  202 994‐7000  Fax  202 994‐7005  nsarchiv@gwu edu