Kyoto?
The Washington Post – 06/04/2001
Kyoto: Europe's Hypocrisy
European Union environmental ministers descended on Washington this week to castigate President Bush for his decision to abandon the Kyoto protocol, with its requirements for steep cuts in U.S carbon dioxide emissions. Under the protocol, the United States must reduce its CO2 emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2010; the EU's target is 8 percent below 1990 emissions. Numerous analyses show that real U.S. gross domestic product would shrink by 2 percent to 4 percent annually ($200 billion to $400 billion) if we raised energy prices and reduced U.S. energy use and CO2 emissions enough to meet our target. Before Americans start feeling guilty about admitting that we can't meet our Kyoto emissions target without crippling our economy, we should ask the EU representatives: "Can you?"

The answer is "No," based on recent reports by climate policy modelers in government, academic and private organizations including the European Commission, the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, the Australian Bureau of Resource and Agricultural Economics, the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration, and the private consulting firm, WEFA. The analyses conclude that since EU members do not have in place legislation to sharply curb energy use, achieving compliance with the protocol is unlikely.
http://www.mre.gov.br/acs/interclip/jornais/abril01/wpost06a.html


Developing countries recognize, as U.S. and AUSTRALIAN leaders argued when withdrawing from Kyoto, that reducing greenhouse gas emissions will cause serious economic harm but will do little if anything to prevent global warming.

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/200211114000320.htm

OTTAWA, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- A group of leading Canadian scientists joined the clash over the Kyoto Accord Wednesday, urging the federal government to delay its ratification.
The eight researchers say they have identified key flaws in the science supporting the Kyoto protocol and offered new evidence that disputes the Canadian government's position on climate change.
Among the "myths" researchers say are spread by Kyoto proponents: that humanity is the primary cause of global climate change, that computer models reveal catastrophic warming in the future and that climate change is occurring at an unprecedented rate.
The Canadian scientists vehemently discounted them, along with the suggestion that the build-up of greenhouse gases will cause a catastrophic planetary warming.
"Climate science is too immature to justify Kyoto," said Tim Patterson, professor of earth sciences at Carleton University in Ottawa.
"The scientific evidence clearly demonstrates that climate change is nowhere near as drastic as special interest groups have painted it to be," he added.
"On the contrary, our current environment is following a pattern one would expect due to entirely natural causes."
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20021113-013115-1279r


OTTAWA - So what does Canada's natural resources minister drive when he's not pushing ratification of the Kyoto climate change protocol?
Minister Herb Dhaliwal confessed that, well, he has two sport utility vehicles - General Motors 4x4s, to be precise.

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/18761/story.htm



brought to you by Barmellin’s Select Plum Brandy served in the finest inns in Tremonsien

"Also… I can kill you with my brain." Firefly