A group of US senators and congressmen yesterday prepared for what they predicted would be a major battle to muster senatorial support for the global warming accord. "This is a fight that I am willing to fight in the US Senate," said Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.
Senator Joseph Lieberman, a Democrat from Connecticut, echoed this view.
"If we believe in the science of global warming, as I do, and if we believe we should lead other nations in the fight against global warming . . . we have to be ready for battle," he said.
Their words followed sharp attacks on US negotiating efforts in Kyoto in an overnight letter from the Senate Majority Leader, Mr Trent Lott, to Republican Senator Chuck Hagel from Nebraska, who attended the Kyoto talks as an observer.
"I have made clear to the President personally that the Senate will not sign a flawed climate change treaty," Senator Lott said in the letter.
"Recent developments at Kyoto have only added to the bleak prospect for Senate ratification of the treaty under negotiation," he said.
A ratification of a Kyoto accord by the US, which produces about a quarter of global carbon dioxide emissions, is seen as pivotal to the treaty's success.
Earlier, Senator Kerry said he would put his name to a resolution backing the climate treaty expected to emerge from the Kyoto conference.
The resolution, he said, would serve as a counter-measure to the Byrd-Hagel resolution, which passed the Senate 95-0 earlier this year and called for placing US economic interests above a climate pact.
The Byrd-Hagel resolution, which in spirit urges the Senate not to ratify any treaty which would damage the US economy, has loomed as a potentially troubling omen for the 10-day Kyoto climate talks.
Senator Kerry also said the best strategy for gaining Senate ratification of a Kyoto accord would be a "slow approach" by the Clinton administration.
Although Senate approval would eventually be required for the pact, senators said it could be held back for several years before the administration submits it for ratification.
Senator Hagel warned against such a strategy in a statement issued yesterday in Kyoto. "It would be simply dishonest for the administration to negotiate and sign a treaty with the express intent of withholding it from the Senate," he said.
The US Vice-President, Mr Al Gore, during a whirlwind one-day visit to Kyoto on Monday, agreed that a battle may loom in the US Senate although he was optimistic about the prospects.
"I think it would be a real `knock-down, drag out' debate that would be really good for the country. I think it would be high stakes and a lot of fun," Mr Gore said.