Who Needs Kyoto?
This is the better way to a clean enviroment:
In July, six countries -- responsible for more than half the world's GHG emissions -- formed the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development: the U.S., Australia, Japan, China, India and South Korea. It's a diverse group. The first two nations refused to ratify Kyoto; the third did; and the final three were exempt as "developing" countries.
What the Six aim to do is reduce emissions, not as a discrete goal, but as a byproduct of worthier, proven endeavors: pulling hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and cleaning up the air they breathe. The very first statement in the pact is: "Development and poverty eradication are urgent and overriding goals internationally."
The means for this transformation will be technology which can, for example, capture the GHG methane, reduce the pollution in the burning of coal and spread the use of nuclear power.
Meanwhile, even though it hasn't ratified Kyoto, the U.S. is doing better than countries that have (including, over the past three years, many in Europe), in large part because market forces are driving businesses and individuals to use energy more efficiently.
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