Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, October 18, 1993                   TAG: 9310180073
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

WHITE HOUSE TO ANNOUNCE PLAN FOR GREENHOUSE GASES

The plan, to be announced by the White House on Tuesday, targets major sources of emission of gases such as carbon dioxide - from automobiles to landfills - and proposes ways for gradually cutting back on their outflow so that by the turn of the century the level of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States will be at levels that prevailed in 1990.

In all, the plan outlines more than 50 projects in which industry and federal agencies can cooperate in cutting emissions, few of them mandatory. If all provisions are carried out, the plan projects an overall reduction of at least 100 million tons of greenhouse gases by the year 2000, about an 8 percent reduction.

The plan is billed as a cornerstone of environmental policy for President Clinton and Vice President Gore, who campaigned against former President Bush's environmental record in general and his policies to deal with global warming in particular.

Bush had agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels but set no date for achieving the goal, nor did be propose steps to get there.

Clinton, to underscore the importance of his plan, will present it in a White House rose garden ceremony, officials said.

After a briefing on the plan late last week, however, many officials of environmental groups sharply questioned its effectiveness, largely because of the voluntary nature of many of the proposals.

According to a copy of the plan made available by an administration official, one key provision calls for employers to offer cash vouchers rather than subsidize parking - a move that should encourage employees to use public transportation rather than drive.

The blueprint says that this provision would reduce carbon emissions 8.2 million tons in 2000, a significant cut in transportation-produced emissions, which account for a third of all greenhouse gases in the United States.

The Climate Change Action Plan, as the new policy is called, is designed to hold down the rise of global temperatures, which some specialists predict could increase eight degrees Farenheit by the end of the next century unless measures are taken to check it.

Although many experts agree that a gradual warming is taking place across the globe, there is wide disagreement over the pace and causes, with some arguing the process is occurring too slowly to pose any real environmental danger and that such changes have occurred in the past.

In an Earth Day speech last April, Clinton set the goal of returning to 1990 levels by the year 2000 and pledged to make the fight against global warming a domestic policy priority.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, binds signatories to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels. After initial objection by Bush administration officials, the United States signed the agreement and ratified it a year ago. The document, ratified so far by 36 countries, will become effective after 14 more countries endorse it.