Japan - Obama Presidency Oral History Back Japan Index / Locations Transcripts (171) Carol Browner ...You had to do some things around Kyoto [Protocol], come up with a new way o... ...end of Clinton-Gore, where you go to Kyoto , and there's the Kyoto Protocol, an... ...where you go to Kyoto, and there's the Kyoto Protocol, and Vice President Gore i... ...What the Clinton administration did was Kyoto . Right? In terms of big, big steps o... ...more and more science. There was Kyoto . Today, he talks about climate chang... ...You had to do some things around Kyoto [Protocol], come up with a new way o... ...end of Clinton-Gore, where you go to Kyoto , and there's the Kyoto Protocol, an... ...where you go to Kyoto, and there's the Kyoto Protocol, and Vice President Gore i... ...What the Clinton administration did was Kyoto . Right? In terms of big, big steps o... ...more and more science. There was Kyoto . Today, he talks about climate chang... ...Mile Island, and then again because of Fukushima and Chernobyl [nuclear power plan... ...make sure it doesn't happen again? When Fukushima happened in Japan, the nuclear industr... ...again? When Fukushima happened in Japan , the nuclear industry from the US sen... Show more... Max Baucus ...he had gone off to be ambassador of Japan ? Oh, yes. Oh, yes, no question... ...James “Jimmy” E. Carter] gave him Japan . [Laughs] Anyway, Japan, China, an... ...gave him Japan. [Laughs] Anyway, Japan , China, and all that—very intrigue... ...would say, when he was ambassador to Japan —his first choice, frankly, when h... ...best—President Carter appointed him to Japan . And Mike was an ambassador to Japan... ...to Japan. And Mike was an ambassador to Japan . And Mike would often say, “The mos... ...in the world, bar none, is US- Japan .” And often, when he'd say that, I'... ...in the bigger, larger countries—China, Japan , Russia, and so forth. You get you... ...the Chinese.” “What's that?” “Well, in Japan , one Japanese is an ant. Thre... ...turned out all countries did, but for Japan . It's a little bit like Belt and Road... ...Same thing with Keidanren in Japan and South Korea. It was a unifie... ...he had gone off to be ambassador of Japan ? Oh, yes. Oh, yes, no question... ...James “Jimmy” E. Carter] gave him Japan . [Laughs] Anyway, Japan, China, an... ...gave him Japan. [Laughs] Anyway, Japan , China, and all that—very intrigue... ...would say, when he was ambassador to Japan —his first choice, frankly, when h... ...best—President Carter appointed him to Japan . And Mike was an ambassador to Japan... ...to Japan. And Mike was an ambassador to Japan . And Mike would often say, “The mos... ...in the world, bar none, is US- Japan .” And often, when he'd say that, I'... ...in the bigger, larger countries—China, Japan , Russia, and so forth. You get you... ...the Chinese.” “What's that?” “Well, in Japan , one Japanese is an ant. Thre... ...turned out all countries did, but for Japan . It's a little bit like Belt and Road... ...Same thing with Keidanren in Japan and South Korea. It was a unifie... Show more... Nancy Sutley ...the US for screwing up progress under Kyoto [Protocol]. Whether it was true or not... ...can't really be serious. You can't get Kyoto re-ratified. You can't get this... ...in Copenhagen; because remember, Kyoto was really about the Annex I countries... ...to sign up cities to pledge to meet the Kyoto Protocols. It sort of depended on tha... ...the US for screwing up progress under Kyoto [Protocol]. Whether it was true or not... ...can't really be serious. You can't get Kyoto re-ratified. You can't get this... ...in Copenhagen; because remember, Kyoto was really about the Annex I countries... ...to sign up cities to pledge to meet the Kyoto Protocols. It sort of depended on tha... ...about the waste” side. Then, frankly, Fukushima happened, and [laughs] that kind o... ...everybody all over again. And the Fukushima disaster changed how the administratio... ...into much—about radiation coming from Fukushima across the Pacific; also about th... ...there was—after the earthquake in Japan , beyond the immediate, obviously... ...obviously, concern around the impact on Japan , and certainly the impact on American... ...the impact on Americans living in Japan and a lot of military and all that, w... ...was negotiating with the government of Japan to expand an Air Force base in Okinawa... ...This was a very touchy issue in Japan about the presence of the US militar... ...of Japan to expand an Air Force base in Okinawa . This was a very touchy issue in Japa... ...the presence of the US military in Okinawa . So the Bush administration, as ... ...forget, twenty thousand Marines off of Okinawa and relocate them to Guam. M... Show more... Steven Chu ...a lot of traction. An example is when Fukushima [Daiichi nuclear power plant accident... ...[Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 11, 2011... ...we're picking up—there was just within— Fukushima is on the coast, but there was a littl... ...with that. I had much more to do with Fukushima [Daiichi nuclear power plant accident... ...[Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 11, 2011] tha... ...question? BP, fracking, shipping. Fukushima , John [P.] Holdren and I played a ver... ...opposition against nuclear after Fukushima —which there was of course. Was it ... ...plant accident, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan , March 11, 2011] happened. Th... ...of Nevada is very different than Japan . Did you put in the topography o... ...Japan. Did you put in the topography of Japan in your models?” “Uh, no, sir.” “... ...plant accident, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan , March 11, 2011] than the coal thing... ...a lot of traction. An example is when Fukushima [Daiichi nuclear power plant accident... ...[Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 11, 2011... ...we're picking up—there was just within— Fukushima is on the coast, but there was a littl... ...with that. I had much more to do with Fukushima [Daiichi nuclear power plant accident... ...[Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 11, 2011] tha... ...question? BP, fracking, shipping. Fukushima , John [P.] Holdren and I played a ver... ...opposition against nuclear after Fukushima —which there was of course. Was it ... ...plant accident, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan , March 11, 2011] happened. Th... ...of Nevada is very different than Japan . Did you put in the topography o... ...Japan. Did you put in the topography of Japan in your models?” “Uh, no, sir.” “... ...plant accident, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan , March 11, 2011] than the coal thing... Show more... Sylvia Burwell ...and they said you can apply to go to Japan . You can win a free scholarship to g... ...You can win a free scholarship to go to Japan for the summer. Let's do it. Do yo... Todd Stern ...senior White House negotiator at the Kyoto and Buenos Aires negotiations. Fro... ...drafted onto the team working on the Kyoto Protocol negotiations. So before we ge... ...the process of helping to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol. Again, I was a newbie at tha... ...climate change just a few months before Kyoto . I wasn't responsible or involved i... ...I had met and worked with during the Kyoto negotiation, and started thinkin... ...all the things that sunk the ship for Kyoto in the US, that was number one. O... ...in the context of the problems with Kyoto that you were describing as centra... ...from any effort to revamp or revise Kyoto and just said, “I'm out.” And Vic... ...was because there was a negotiation. Kyoto had gotten as far as it got. There wer... ...There were a lot of parties who were in Kyoto , but it was obviously fatally flawe... ...a new agreement with everybody in it. Kyoto is still there, but Kyoto is limited i... ...in it. Kyoto is still there, but Kyoto is limited in what it can do, so we'r... ...But we were going to try to continue Kyoto into a next five-year phase but also d... ...about—again, going all the way back to Kyoto , we had to break the paradigm. Th... ...a mandate for the next try. So we tried Kyoto ; it kind of halfway worked but didn'... ...three-part protocol. Protocol like the Kyoto Protocol, that's very common language... ...meant this is going to be the non- Kyoto . This isn't, like, a new agreement fo... ...negotiation for the mandate that led to Kyoto ; the Berlin mandate in 1995. Th... ...mandate in 1995. The mandate for the Kyoto negotiation had written right into th... ...bifurcated—not much differently than Kyoto , but still a little bit. In terms o... ...that George [W.] Bush walked away from Kyoto —he did it the wrong way, and the... ...way, and they should've tried to fix Kyoto rather than throw it overboard, an... ...you said America had walked away from Kyoto . As you look back, to put ... ...happened with the US unable to join the Kyoto Agreement that it had agreed to, with ... ...trip to Asia, which turned out to be Japan , China, Korea, and Indonesia, an... ...senior White House negotiator at the Kyoto and Buenos Aires negotiations. Fro... ...drafted onto the team working on the Kyoto Protocol negotiations. So before we ge... ...the process of helping to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol. Again, I was a newbie at tha... ...climate change just a few months before Kyoto . I wasn't responsible or involved i... ...I had met and worked with during the Kyoto negotiation, and started thinkin... ...all the things that sunk the ship for Kyoto in the US, that was number one. O... ...in the context of the problems with Kyoto that you were describing as centra... ...from any effort to revamp or revise Kyoto and just said, “I'm out.” And Vic... ...was because there was a negotiation. Kyoto had gotten as far as it got. There wer... ...There were a lot of parties who were in Kyoto , but it was obviously fatally flawe... ...a new agreement with everybody in it. Kyoto is still there, but Kyoto is limited i... ...in it. Kyoto is still there, but Kyoto is limited in what it can do, so we'r... ...But we were going to try to continue Kyoto into a next five-year phase but also d... ...about—again, going all the way back to Kyoto , we had to break the paradigm. Th... ...a mandate for the next try. So we tried Kyoto ; it kind of halfway worked but didn'... ...three-part protocol. Protocol like the Kyoto Protocol, that's very common language... ...meant this is going to be the non- Kyoto . This isn't, like, a new agreement fo... ...negotiation for the mandate that led to Kyoto ; the Berlin mandate in 1995. Th... ...mandate in 1995. The mandate for the Kyoto negotiation had written right into th... ...bifurcated—not much differently than Kyoto , but still a little bit. In terms o... ...that George [W.] Bush walked away from Kyoto —he did it the wrong way, and the... ...way, and they should've tried to fix Kyoto rather than throw it overboard, an... ...you said America had walked away from Kyoto . As you look back, to put ... ...happened with the US unable to join the Kyoto Agreement that it had agreed to, with ... Show more... Tom Harkin ...to land and refuel right outside of Tokyo , Tachikawa. And we'll get the... Nancy-Ann DeParle ...had said they wanted to repatriate to Japan . It was really exciting to me... ...didn't really want to be repatriated to Japan . They had no loyalty to Japan. Thei... ...to Japan. They had no loyalty to Japan . Their loyalty was to the US. But ... ...of staff, the nuclear explosion in Japan . I had to be at the White House when ... ...the administration that the crisis in Japan would create public panic in the Unite... ...were communicating with the people in Japan , scientists in Japan, as well as al... ...with the people in Japan, scientists in Japan , as well as all around the world... ...specifically with respect to Japan , political and diplomatic—concern... ...going on around the world that—the Fukushima nuclear disaster is one of the firs... ...session, you also mentioned that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of March o... ...that emerges from a crisis like Fukushima Daiichi? No. Following th... ...that happened slightly after the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. In the spring o... ...brought my more recent experience with Fukushima . But I was not, by any means, th... ...background had been? Definitely with Fukushima , yes. A little bit on Arab Spring... ...they're in harm's way, whether it was Fukushima or Benghazi and the diplomats in othe... ...had said they wanted to repatriate to Japan . It was really exciting to me... ...didn't really want to be repatriated to Japan . They had no loyalty to Japan. Thei... ...to Japan. They had no loyalty to Japan . Their loyalty was to the US. But ... ...of staff, the nuclear explosion in Japan . I had to be at the White House when ... ...the administration that the crisis in Japan would create public panic in the Unite... ...were communicating with the people in Japan , scientists in Japan, as well as al... ...with the people in Japan, scientists in Japan , as well as all around the world... ...specifically with respect to Japan , political and diplomatic—concern... ...going on around the world that—the Fukushima nuclear disaster is one of the firs... ...session, you also mentioned that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of March o... ...that emerges from a crisis like Fukushima Daiichi? No. Following th... ...that happened slightly after the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. In the spring o... ...brought my more recent experience with Fukushima . But I was not, by any means, th... ...background had been? Definitely with Fukushima , yes. A little bit on Arab Spring... ...they're in harm's way, whether it was Fukushima or Benghazi and the diplomats in othe... ...had said they wanted to repatriate to Japan . It was really exciting to me... ...didn't really want to be repatriated to Japan . They had no loyalty to Japan. Thei... ...to Japan. They had no loyalty to Japan . Their loyalty was to the US. But ... ...of staff, the nuclear explosion in Japan . I had to be at the White House when ... ...the administration that the crisis in Japan would create public panic in the Unite... ...were communicating with the people in Japan , scientists in Japan, as well as al... ...with the people in Japan, scientists in Japan , as well as all around the world... ...specifically with respect to Japan , political and diplomatic—concern... ...on Diamond Head, we were closer to Tokyo than we were to New York, and closer t... ...located in a place that was as close to Tokyo as it was to New York—he's got a... Show more... Arun Majumdar ...was this incident between China and Japan over some of the islands that were i... ...to stop critical materials export to Japan .” Then we realized that ninety-fiv... ...that when a disaster happens—including Fukushima , by the way, which happened in 2011... Related Topics go to the Healthcare Healthcare go to the Climate, Environment, and Energy Climate, Environment, and Energy Middle East Coming soon Atlantic Relations Coming soon Financial Reform and Regulation Coming soon