REMARKS AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY
                       BY VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE
                       NATIONAL TOWN MEETING FOR A
                       SUSTAINABLE AMERICA

                       I want to welcome everyone to our National Town Meeting for
                       a Sustainable America. We are joined today by more than
                       3,000 delegates here in Detroit -- and more than 60,000
                       people who join us by satellite from more than 100 locations
                       nationwide. The size of this meeting is a story in itself. Some
                       think this is a movement that came out of nowhere. 

                       But the presence of tens of thousands of you here today
                       proves better than anything: the drive to create a sustainable
                       America isn't just a meeting, it's a movement. For those who
                       wonder what this movement is all about, let me start by
                       asking a few questions here today. Let me see a show of
                       hands: 

                       How many people believe we can grow our economy and
                       improve our quality of life at the same time? How many
                       believe we don't have to accept two-hour traffic jams as a
                       condition for living where we want? How many believe that we
                       don't have to accept job loss in the inner city as a permanent
                       condition? How many believe we don't have to accept the loss
                       of nearly a million acres of farmland every year as fate? How
                       many want good schools and safe streets? Last question: how
                       many believe we can build more livable communities for
                       everyone? 

                       Now think about this: there are more than 60,000 people
                       participating in this meeting today. You come from cities,
                       suburbs, and rural America. You are family business owners
                       and family farmers. You are industry leaders,
                       environmentalists, mayors, teachers, parents, legislators, and
                       ministers. Yet on every question, nearly every single one of
                       you raised your hands. That is what this issue is all about. 

                       We have come here today to say with one voice: when we
                       work together to make the right choices, we can craft solutions
                       that are good for cities, suburbs, and rural areas. We can
                       sustain our prosperity, improve our quality of life, and restore
                       a sense of community - for all Americans. 

                       Some call this movement "smart growth." Others say
                       "livability." No matter what we call it, the message of this
                       movement is clear: working together, we can create an
                       America that's not just better off - but better, in every way. 

                       We have all seen the alternative. We know the problems, and
                       the ways in which they spread out across our communities. In
                       too many older neighborhoods, walkable main streets have
                       emptied out, leaving a nighttime vacuum filled with crime and
                       disorder. The sprawl that has developed around our cities has
                       transformed easy suburbs into lonely cul-de-sacs, so distant
                       from commercial centers that if a family wants an affordable
                       house, a commuting parent often gets home too late to read a
                       child a bedtime story. 

                       People move out to the suburbs to make their lives, only too
                       often, congestion follows them. They long to give their kids
                       the experience of a park at the end of the street - or a family
                       farm by the side of the road. Many communities have no
                       sidewalks -- and nowhere to walk to if they did. 

                       This kind of sprawl is harder on families than just the long
                       drive to work and back; it means working families must sink
                       thousands of dollars into extra commuting costs, when they
                       may want the choice of devoting those funds to a year of state
                       college. It means that people leaving welfare and eager to
                       work have no way to get to where their new job is, and still
                       pick up a child in day care. It means that resources are
                       siphoned away from older neighborhoods to build ever more
                       distant new amenities in new communities. It means that air
                       and water quality go down, and taxes go up. 

                       These are issues that touch the lives of every single American.
                       And when we consider what is at stake - our economic
                       strength, our public safety, our air and water and open spaces,
                       the strength of our families, and our very sense of community
                       -- we realize that this truly is a great national challenge for
                       the 21st Century. 

                       In last fall's elections, more than 200 communities discussed -
                       and more than 70 percent adopted -- measures to pursue
                       smarter growth into the 21st Century. I believe there is a deep
                       significance to this growing grassroots movement. These
                       measures are not just new ideas at the dawn of a new century
                       - they are the dawn of a whole new kind of prosperity in
                       America - one that is based on our oldest and most enduring
                       values. 

                       Many Americans today are reaching for a new prosperity
                       defined not just by the quantity of their bank accounts, but
                       also by the quality of their lives. They want smart growth that
                       produces prosperity while protecting a high quality of life. 

                       That's a message American business is hearing loud and clear
                       as well. 

                       At a time when companies can locate anywhere they want,
                       they are going to locate in places that have good schools,
                       clean air and water, and safe streets, because that is where
                       they can attract the most talented employees and their
                       families. This new prosperity is built on new innovations - in
                       areas such as fuel efficiency, industrial ecology, renewable
                       energy and new efficiencies in building and construction -- that
                       create new economic opportunity while protecting our
                       environment. 

                       At this meeting, we have set a goal of stimulating 2,000
                       commitments from individuals, companies, and communities
                       across America by the year 2000 to help create this new
                       prosperity. These are 2,000 building blocks toward a more
                       sustainable America. I am proud that the federal government
                       is doing its part. I am proud to announce today that during the
                       course of this week, we will be unveiling 50 new federal
                       commitments - from building new courthouses downtown to a
                       new initiative to connect family farmers with urban markets -
                       that will help help turn these goals into a reality. 

                       But I want to be clear about the federal government's role. Our
                       national government must not try to serve as a beauty
                       commissar. It must not be a national zoning board.
                       Washington should not be making local planning decisions.
                       Instead, we must empower those at the grassroots level by
                       giving them the tools and resources they need to create the
                       communities they want. 

                       This is about providing more choices for communities. If local
                       residents want parks instead of contaminated brownfields in
                       their communities, they should be able to make that choice. If
                       they want to build a playground instead of a strip mall, they
                       should be able to make that choice. If they want to build
                       subways instead of highways, they should be able to make
                       that choice - and we should help them. 

                       I know this kind of partnership can work --- because I have
                       seen it happen with my own eyes. 

                       Over the past six years, as Chairman of the Community
                       Empowerment Board, I have held forums across the country
                       with parents and community leaders. In Sacramento, I met
                       townspeople who reclaimed an old brownfields site and turned
                       it into a thriving residential community. In Portland, I helped
                       dedicate a new light rail system to build, in the locals' own
                       words, a Portland with "fewer arteries and more heart." 

                       We just heard Jenny Reid talk about Chattanooga. 

                       Chattanooga is a city that lies between two majestic
                       mountains. But when I was growing up, the smog was so thick
                       people couldn't even see the mountains. The riverfront was so
                       littered that you couldn't see the river. 

                       But together, the people of Chattanooga decided to reclaim
                       the natural beauty of the place. More than 2,500 people turned
                       out for public meetings. Those suggestions were turned into
                       real action. Soon after, a vacant high school on the waterfront
                       was reopened as a nationally-recognized magnet school. An
                       old bridge was reinforced and reopened as the country's
                       longest pedestrian walkway over a beautiful river. And at the
                       suggestion of a group of students, old warehouse properties
                       were turned into the largest freshwater aquarium in the world
                       -- attracting more than 1.3 million visitors every year. Today,
                       Chattanooga is leading the state in job growth. 

                       All of you have similar stories of your own. What is being
                       gained in these communities is not just livability, but new life
                       for our democracy. As citizens come together to plan their
                       common future - as they realize that they can make a
                       difference right in their own neighborhoods - we open the door
                       to a more vibrant civic life. That is why smart, sustainable
                       growth must happen at the local and community level. 

                       And it must happen not just within borders, but across borders
                       as well. We are finding that the places that are most
                       successful are those willing to reach out to neighboring
                       communities - and develop shared solutions to shared
                       problems. 

                       Here in Detroit, when the needed expansion at Wayne
                       County's airport threatened wetlands, Executive Ed McNamara
                       put together an innovative plan to preserve 100,000 acres of
                       nearby wetlands by creating the Crosswinds Marsh - which has
                       been praised for its environmental impact. In the 21st Century,
                       we must understand that many of the challenges we face don't
                       recognize defined borders - and neither can our solutions. 

                       That was the very spirit that drove the President's Council for
                       Sustainable Development in the first place. On behalf of
                       everyone here today, I want to say: thank you, President's
                       Council for Sustainable Development, for a job well done. 

                       It's the same sense of cooperation and empowerment that our
                       comprehensive new Livability Initiative seeks to promote today
                       - to help communities have the tools and resources they need
                       to preserve green spaces, ease traffic congestion, improve
                       schools, and enhance economic competitiveness. 

                       Let me tell you what we're proposing, and why it is so
                       essential that Congress approve it. 

                       It starts with more than $700 million in new tax credits for
                       state and local bonds to build more livable communities. We
                       call them "Better America Bonds" and they will help
                       communities reconnect to the land around them, preserve open
                       spaces, build parks, improve water quality, and redevelop rusty
                       old Brownfields. These bonds will help save farms from being
                       turned into strip malls. They will help save parks from being
                       paved over. They will help to acquire new lands for urban and
                       suburban forests and recreation sites. They will help set aside
                       wetlands, coastal and wildlife preserves. Above all, they will
                       help create jobs. We estimate that Better America Bonds will
                       help leverage nearly $10 billion in investments over the next
                       five years. That's an investment worth making, and I urge
                       Congress to pass it. 

                       We are proposing new steps to ease traffic congestion. Last
                       year, President Clinton and I gave communities unprecedented
                       new opportunities to invest in mass transit and reduce traffic
                       congestion. This year, we want to go further -- with the
                       highest investment in public transit in American history - more
                       than $6 billion to help communities develop alternatives to
                       building more highways. 

                       I am very proud that this Saturday, the President and I
                       proposed new regulations to make our air even cleaner -- in
                       the most cost effective and flexible ways. For the first time,
                       we would require all passenger vehicles and trucks to meet the
                       same tough pollution standards. And for the first time, our
                       plan addresses not only the cars we drive, but also the fuel
                       they use. The health benefits would be enormous. And the
                       benefits of the proposal outweigh the costs by as much as four
                       to one. We've taken great pains to make sure these new
                       standards will not cause hardship for industry, or reduce
                       consumer choice. With the help of industry, public health
                       groups, and all of you, we believe we can finalize this proposal
                       by the end of the year - and create a cleaner America for the
                       21st Century. 

                       We are also proposing a $1 billion Lands Legacy Initiative to
                       protect natural treasures across the country - places like the
                       Everglades, and California's ancient redwoods - and to help
                       states and local communities save precious lands closer to
                       home. This initiative represents the largest one-year
                       investment ever proposed for protecting America's land
                       resources, and roughly half would go to local communities to
                       restore urban parks, save threatened farmland, and preserve
                       vital wetlands, coastlands, and forests. And, to sustain these
                       efforts in the century ahead, President Clinton and I are
                       proposing permanent funding of at least $1 billion a year -
                       every year - with at least half dedicated to state and local
                       efforts. I urge Congress to pass it. 

                       There is more we must do to help communities grow and thrive
                       according to their own values. I am proud that I led our
                       Empowerment Zone initiative, which has brought more than $4
                       billion of new investment to Detroit. Now, I call on Congress to
                       fully fund our second round of Empowerment Zones, which
                       have the potential to create 90,000 jobs and stimulate more
                       than $20 billion in public and private investment. Let's give our
                       cities the hope and opportunity they deserve. 

                       And then, to make sure our children get the skills they need to
                       work those jobs, let's pass our plan to build and modernize
                       more than 6,000 schools. We all know: it's not just a question
                       of whether we build these schools, but how we build these
                       schools. In too many places in America today, we are building
                       classrooms in the middle of cornfields, without any connection
                       to the larger community. Today, we have an incredible
                       opportunity to get it right. Let's work together to build schools
                       that are not just centers of learning, but centers of their
                       communities. 

                       The 2,000 commitments we are seeking by the end of this
                       meeting will help turn some of these goals into a reality. But
                       let me make two commitments of my own. 

                       First, I will do all I can to make the federal government a
                       better partner in creating more livable communities across
                       America. Second, I will carry this message across the country,
                       to create a new prosperity for all Americans. 

                       I believe that refocusing communities across the country on
                       ways to sustain prosperity while improving quality of life is one
                       of the greatest challenges we face as a nation. If we're going
                       to meet that challenge, we need your voice and we need your
                       leadership. 

                       And don't believe for a second that it can't happen. Just look
                       at what happened in Georgia. Last year, Governor Roy Barnes
                       ran on the issue of livability. But he didn't speak alone -
                       behind him were thousands of local residents and community
                       activists demanding that something be done. Because of their
                       leadership, the Governor's message was powerful. The papers
                       had to write about it. And the Legislature had to act upon it.
                       Today, Georgia is beginning to take the steps it needs to take
                       to build more livable communities for everyone. 

                       If we can build that same sense of energy, that same sense of
                       urgency, that same sense of possibility in every community in
                       America, we create a new prosperity for all Americans. 

                       As Wallace Stegner once wrote: "this is the native home of
                       hope. When America fully learns that cooperation . . . is the
                       pattern that most characterizes and preserves it, then it will
                       have achieved itself and outlived its origins. Then, [we] have a
                       chance to create a society to match [our] scenery." 

                       Working together, pushing together, fighting together, I know
                       we will. Thank you.


