Let That Train Go
The Kyoto Protocol goes into effect next week David Ignatius complains that the Bush Administration is not onboard the "global policy train." It's true that W. would garner some good pub and goodwill from the international community if he signed. It would even bring about some bipartisan agreement, it's just that the bipartisan spirit runs against Kyoto. When President Clinton submitted Kyoto to the Senate it was shot down 92 - 0. The administration should engage the world in trying to hammer out a new agreement, one amendable to our interests and one that has a chance of passing.
posted by theCardinal @ 10:13 PM
2 Comments:
The emission reduction for us is somewhat draconian. Studies showed that adhering to Kyoto would knock a few points off of the GDP and nobody wanted to vote for that. Clinton introduced Kyoto, but never pushed it knowing that it was lost cause. Bush ended all pretense, but never offered an alternative.
Kyoto is one of the few things that the libertarian Cato Institute, the conservative Heritage Foundation and the moderate-left Brookings Institute all agree on. According to a '98 DoE report it would knock 2.3 points off of the GDP. It would also boost gas prices by an estimated $.66 p/gallon. Kyoto does not apply to developing countries where the largest growth in emissions can be found. In other words its effect would be negligible. Unfortunately by acting unilateraly and without consultation we have abdicated our moral authority on this issue. Climate change needs to be addressed, but we've put ourselves on the outside looking in.
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