Bye-Bye, Kyoto
I read a very interesting article in the latest issue of Forbes Magazine. Dan Seligman writes about the Kyoto Treaty and how it is failing to live up to its promise.
Dan also points out some interesting facts about the European countries that have been most critical of the United State's refusal to join Kyoto.
"One thing George W. Bush got exactly right was Kyoto. The treaty isn't working, and a lot of folks who bought into it are now looking for an exit strategy."Dan goes on to describe Tony Blair speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative event this past fall. Blair said that his thinking on subject had changed in the past couple of years and added that
"No country is going to cut its growth."Blair's point being that proponents of Kyoto had claimed that countries would not have to slow down economic growth in order to comply.
Dan also points out some interesting facts about the European countries that have been most critical of the United State's refusal to join Kyoto.
"And yet it appears that even western Europe is not reducing emissions. The Kyoto rules say that western Europe must get their emissions to a level 8% below those prevailing in 1990. But virtually all those countries--the only significant exception is Germany--are going in the wrong direction. The latest available data, covering emissions through 2003, tell us that in the years since the treaty was negotiated, carbon dioxide levels increased by 7% in France, 11% in Italy and 29% in Spain. The increase for western Europe as a whole was 5.4%"And what was the increase in the United States? 4.7%.
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