Abstract

PIP: The challenge for environmental action has been direct and powerful for the Global Tomorrow Coalition. In June 1983 a major international conference was held by the Coalition in Washington, D.C., the Conference examined the issues of acid rain, biological diversity, foresight capability, hazardous exports, water resources, the oceans, sustainable development, population, and nuclear issues. The Conference presented a unique portrait of the US environmental movement, its problems and the possibilities for US leadership at the international level. The Coalition issued an indictment of the Reagan Administration, charging that it had reversed American domestic and international policies and was threatening the foundation on international cooperation which the US had worked hard to establish. Specifically, the Administration did the following: prevented cooperative international action on acid rain; destroyed the effectiveness of the Council on Environmental Quality by cutting its budget by 2/3 and replacing the entire professional staff with new personnel lacking environmental expertise; withdrew US participation from the Law of the Sea Conference; discouraged initiatives and programs on environment and resource trends by OECD; obstructed OECD's efforts to harmonize testing for new chemicals; sought more than a 25% reduction in US fiscal 1984 support for the UN Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA); opposed UN efforts to control hazardous exports and removed US governmental restraints on this trade; withdrew support for the Internatioanl Man and the Biopshere program; proposed cutting the US voluntary contribution to the UN Environment Program by 2/3; proposed weakening the rules under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and withdrew support for the World Heritage Convention and the Convention for the Protection of Nature and Preservation of Wildlife in the Western hemisphere; and withdrew funding for participation in US and international Antarctic research programs. On the eve of the Conference, the Heritage Foundation of Washington issued a rebuttal to the Coalition maintaining the following: things are getting better and not worse; the "Global 2000 Report" is a doomsday projection of some current trends but natural course corrections will occur of their own accord; and government should not take primary responsibility for environmental management. The Conference produced an activist package of recommendations, primarily for building domestic strength but also with an eye toward international affairs. The Conference concluded that an urgent need exists for government cooperation with the private sector to improve its capacity to collect data on global trends in environment, population, and natural resources. It called for stronger US leadership in preventing nuclear war.