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The Kyoto Accord

In 1997, Bill Clinton and the United States lead the way in being one of the first signers of the Kyoto Protocol. Under the endorsement, countrys would have only a few years to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 6%. This would be the first step towards clearing the air around the planet earth and help to reduce the destruction of our ozone layer.

In a stunning turn of events, over 150 countries world wide signed the accord and almost every major industrial country except 2. The United States and Australia refused to sign it stating that they already had agreements in place. The United States has an agreement with Australia, India, China and several other Asian countries. The agreement, however, fails to set any mandatory emissions requirements and is viewed by many experts to be an attempt to undermine the Kyoto Accord.

The United States sites that emissions were cut by 1% from 2000-2003 amide a 1.2billion dollar growth in the economy. While countrys like France made comments that this was the biggest threat to human kind, and evidence for global warming is now undeniable, the United States stand firm behind its refusal to sign the accord amidst the growing anger and disappointment of the other governments of the world.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Art.../TPEnvironment/

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It would appear the Bush Administration has been pressured by large corporations to not ratify the protocol. The current administration is infiltrated by people who have a very close association to the heavy polluting oil industry. I can't see any credibility or evidence for their economic argument. And denying global warming is even occurring is laughable. We have just had the hottest and driest winter for many years. The majority of scientists and climatologists all agree greenhouse gas emissions are having an effect.

Australia followed suit because our government was desperate for a free trade agreement with the US and Howard has this fantasy about being Bush's servant, which is a major source of national embarrassment.

Both Australia and the US are heavy polluters for their respective population sizes. Australia is because we have a huge mining and agricultural sector, and we are powered by fossil fuels. Plus it is a massive country for it's population density, which means we need automobiles to get around. The US is the largest industrialized country in the world and also the most power hungry per capita.

Reducing gas emissions by 6 per cent isn't going to make a huge difference. It just means we need to work smarter. Especially in light of the 1.2 billion growth in the economy.

One fair point both the US and Australia do make is that Kyoto should be applied to developing countries like China and India as well. I can't quite understand why such countries would be allowed to ignore their responsibility to the environment.

Has the US said it will at least talk to other Kyoto countries after the protocol expires in 2010? Australia has made this small token commitment.

Edited: arvhic on 11th Dec, 2005 - 2:43am