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August 3, 2005Beyond Kyoto - Effective work sans the UNYesterday, I had complained about seeing nothing in the mainstream press about a new environmental agreement brokered by the Bush Administration and agreed to by China, Australia, India, South Korea and Japan. I’m still not seeing anything about it in the MSM, but James Glassman is writing about it in TCS. Call it Beyond Kyoto or “Sane Kyoto,” it appears to be very good news - news that environmentalists and folks on the left would probably applaud if only - you know - someone with a D after their name had done it. You’ll want to read Glassman’s whole piece, but here is a taste: First, it breaks the climate-change deadlock. This is the agreement that responsible scientists and public officials have been seeking since the failure of the Kyoto Protocol became evident at the global warming conclave in Delhi two years ago. Call it “Beyond Kyoto” - Way Beyond Kyoto. Second, the new deal was negotiated and settled without the involvement of the United Nations or the European Union - a clear message from the United States that multilateralism does not have a single definition. In fact, according to The Guardian newspaper, the agreement - called the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate — was kept secret by President Bush from British Prime Minister Tony Blair, an uncompromising champion of Kyoto, during last month’s G8 meeting” in Scotland. Third, the agreement comprises countries that account for 45% of the world’s population and about half the world’s economic output and greenhouse gas emissions, mainly carbon dioxide, implicated in raising surface temperatures. More Asian countries may soon join the pact. Fourth and most important, it takes a pro-growth approach to combating the possibility of global warming in the century ahead. The new Beyond Kyoto agreement focuses on innovative technology as the antidote, not only to carbon-dioxide emissions but also to dirty air and economic deprivation. The very first statement in the pact is: “Development and poverty eradication are urgent and overriding goals internationally.” That’s a stark contrast with Kyoto’s preference for hard CO2 targets, met through government directives, to reduce energy use. Development is an afterthought. Even its staunchest supporters now recognize that Kyoto, signed in 1997 and officially ratified last year, has no future. Many of the world’s most prolific emitters of greenhouse gases, including China, India and South Korea, were exempt from the requirements of the protocol. The US and Australia have rejected it. And even noisy advocates, like France, Italy and Canada, are nowhere close to meeting the treaty’s targets. The EU’s emissions rose 3.6% between 2001 and 2004 (those in the US fell). The left is predictably wrinkling its nose at this plan, but it sounds sensible, pragmatic, non-traumatic and, perhaps most importantly, DO-ABLE. I know, I know, President Bush is bad, stupid, a moron, a liar, a cheat, yadda yadda…but the Kyoto Protocol was something his predecessor didn’t really have to courage to either sign onto or ignore, and he never suggested an alternative. We’ve watched the UN and Europe try to keep a good face on a basically unworkable idea. Hate him all you want, President Bush has vision, he is uninterested in theorizing and gabbing about a problem and is keen to actually DO something. Wow…actually DOING stuff. What a concept. Got the story, btw, via the great Lucianne.com http://theanchoressonline.com/2005/08/03/beyond-kyoto-effective-work-sans-the-un/trackback/ 3 Responses to “Beyond Kyoto - Effective work sans the UN” |
August 3rd, 2005 at 11:31 pm
It never was about the climate.
The Left did not get what they wanted–a US bailout of Socialism. That’s what this has all been about from the beginning. A transfer of several Trillion dollars from the US to them, and permanent higher costs of doing business for the US, and a shift of American manufacturing to China. It was never about the climate. Remember, perfect combustion of any hydocarbon results in water and carbon dioxide. US industry would not spend the $ trillions developing a whole new industry to scrub the CO2 from the emissions gases by selective adsorption using minerals not currently mined in anywhere near sufficient quantities. They would simply move operations overseas to countries without limits, like China. The Euros dreamed of a new generation of Chinese consumers with money in their pockets to buy Euro goods. So they thought… That’s why the US was the only country that had to roll back emissions to an earlier date. The rest of the world simply got to hold down future growth. The other part of the plan allowed the US to purchase CO2 emissions credits from other countries. Again, a transfer of wealth.
To those who wish to argue, explain to me why would would want to control CO2 emissions, when 97%+ of the greenhouse effect on Earth is due to water vapor…Wouldn’t it make more sense to focus your attention on the prime driver of the effect? Would you really unplug your refrigerator when your furnace is running full bore on the hottest day of the year. That’s the same contribution to your house’s thermal input as CO2 is to the greenhouse effect…
September 26th, 2005 at 4:36 pm
[...] Tony Snow says it is McCain-Feingold that has turned Harry Reid into Mr. Hyde (Think Jekyll and Hyde, not Henry Hyde!) Stephen Johnson figures if Senators could vote for John Roberts in secret, he’d be confirmed by a big number. He muses about what that says about the character of many in the senate. Bush’s quiet work with Japan. Bet you didn’t read this anywhere else. Or this alternative to Kyoto. [...]
May 2nd, 2007 at 8:46 pm
[...] even house president Al Gore dissenting) rejected the treaty under PRESIDENT CLINTON. And oh, yeah, Bush has begun put something successful up in it’s place, [...]