- "Our decision about energy will test the character of the American people and the ability of the President and the Congress to govern this Nation. This difficult effort will be the 'moral equivalent of war', except that we will be uniting our efforts to build and not to destroy." – Jimmy Carter, 1977
- "For generations, we have assumed that the efforts of mankind would leave the fundamental equilibrium of the world's systems and atmosphere stable. But it is possible that with all these enormous changes (population, agricultural, use of fossil fuels) concentrated into such a short period of time, we have unwittingly begun a massive experiment with the system of this planet itself." – Margaret Thatcher, 1998
- "A great nation like the United States has a duty not to obstruct the fight against global warming but should, on the contrary, lead the combat, because what is at stake is the fate of all humanity." – Nicolas Sarkozy, 2007
