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2003-12-02 International
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Good Bye Kyoto...
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1
Fifteen years of international effort to combat climate change appeared doomed last night after Russia said it would not ratify the Kyoto protocol, the world treaty on global warming.
You can still hear the sound of liberals jerking off about this âsetbackâ
Russian ratification is necessary for the treaty to take effect. Andrei Illarionov, a senior economic adviser to President Vladimir Putin, said in a surprise announcement in Moscow that Russia was refusing to sign the agreement, because to do so would threaten the countryâs economic growth.
At last, the only true thing about Kyoto to be published in a long, long time.
The decision means the collapse of the mechanism, agonisingly constructed by thous- ands of officials from more than 150 countries over a decade and a half, for the world to try to deal with its greatest threat.
No, the greatest threat was enviro-commies. Jeez, canât this writer get anything right?
United Nations scientists now predict that global average temperatures may rise by up to 6C by the end of the century in a profound climatic destabilisation that will result in fiercer storms and rising sea levels.
Notice the âup toâ phrase. That means the temp is just as likely not to rise at all
In large areas of the world, agriculture may become impossible; other parts may become uninhabitable because of flooding, hurricanes, increased disease, or the disappearance of the land. This will take place while the earthâs population is rising towards 10 billion or more.
Note, the use of the word âmayâ. Brilliant rhetoric, albeit crappy objectivity by the reporter.
Ironically, Mr Illarionovâs announcement coincided with the publication of a UN report suggesting that skiing would soon be impossible in many European winter resorts because rising temperatures were leading to the disappearance of snow.
I guess the whole idea of Kyoto was so liberals can have their ski resorts. You know how this works. They complain about something that they canât allow because of some policy they disagree with, then they ban it.
Although diplomats were trying last night to clarify the status of the Russian announcement, its unequivocal nature is the clearest sign that Moscow sees too many drawbacks in the pact to limit emissions of the greenhouse gases, principally carbon dioxide from motor vehicles and electricity generation, which are causing the atmosphere to heat.
There is scant evidence the automotive and industrial emissions are responsible for global warming, assuming that a contstant rise in temp can even been gaged.
Since the treaty was agreed in December 1997, 120 countries including Britain have ratified it, but its fate has hung by a Russian thread since President George Bush, the oilman son of an oilman father, withdrew the US from it in March 2001, also alleging a threat to economic competitiveness.
the âoilmanâ tag is critical to this leftwinger. You know that oil is an evil commodity: that is why they tax it at every level.
To take effect, the treaty has to be ratified by nations responsible for 55 per cent or more of the greenhouse gas emissions of the industrialised countries in 1990. In the absence of the US, the worldâs biggest emitter with 25 per cent of the total, this could not be achieved without the Russian contribution of 17 per cent.
So sad. Too bad.
Mr Illarionov did not mince his words when he made his announcement after a meeting between President Putin and European businessmen. "In its current form, this protocol cannot be ratified," he said. "The Kyoto protocol places significant limitations on the economic growth of Russia. Itâs impossible to undertake responsibilities that place serious limits on the countryâs growth."
The chances of the protocol being substantially renegotiated to satisfy Mr Illarionov are nil, so it is in its current form that it will stand or fall.
At the outset, Russia was confidently expected to ratify, but in the past 18 months Russian ministers and officials had raised increasing concerns by a series of will-we, wonât-we statements. A decision had been expected next spring after the Russian elections.
There have been rumours over the past few months that the Americans have been putting pressure on the Russians to pull out of Kyoto. American withdrawal meant the loss of one of Kyotoâs biggest attractions for the Russians - the chance to sell to the US, for billions of dollars, their notional surplus emissions of greenhouse gases, brought about by the collapse of Russian heavy industry in the 1990s.
This year has produced new evidence of a rapidly changing and destabilising climate. India, Sri Lanka and the US have registered record high temperatures, rainfall and tornadoes; Europe has seen record heatwaves, unprecedented forest fires and great rivers, such as the Po in Italy, reduced to a trickle.
Weâre always recording record high temps. Right now winter in Oklahoma has been pretty darn cold so far, just like it has in decades passed. 
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Posted by badanov 2003-12-02 7:27:49 PM||
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Posted by Patrick B 2003-12-2 9:29:37 PM||
2003-12-2 9:29:37 PM||
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