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No Advanced Degrees- JUST PLAIN EDUCATION

Posted by Maggie (Guest) - Monday, September 25 2006, 22:45:57 (CEST) from 70.135.143.182 - 70.135.143.182 - Windows XP - Internet Explorer Website: Website title:

What is the Kyoto Treaty? The Kyoto Treaty is an international treaty, which calls on the US and other industrialized nations to cut back on their emissions from power plants and cars in order to reduce global warming, (also known as the greenhouse effect.) It was adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro in 1992. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted at the third session of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC and negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997, hence the name. The agreement came into full force on February 16, 2005, following ratification by Russia. Since then, a total of 163 countries have ratified the agreement, representing 61.60% of emission from industrialized and semi-industrialized countries. Notable exceptions include the United States and Australia. Other countries like India and China, which have ratified the protocol are not required to reduce carbon emissions under the present agreement. (I found this very difficult to accept.) The Kyoto Protocol is an amendment to the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change, (UNFCCC.) Countries that ratify this protocol commit to reducing their emissions of Carbon Dioxide and five greenhouse gases. At the least, they must engage in emissions trading if they maintain or increase emissions of these gases. According to a press release from the United Nations Environment Program, the goal is to lower the overall emissions of 6 greenhouse gases, (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexaflouride, HFC’s, and PFC’s.) National targets range from 8% reductions for the European Union and 7% for the U.S., 6% for Japan. Most provisions of the Kyoto Protocol apply to developed countries, and are listed as “Annex I” in UNFCCC. According to UNFCCC, the objective is the "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, (IPCC) has predicted an average global rise in temperature of 1.4 degrees, (2.5 F) to 5.8 degrees, (10.4 F) between 1990 and 2001. Current estimates indicate that even if Kyoto Protocol was successfully implemented, it would not provide a substantial reduction in temperature. Because of this, many critics and environmentalists view the Kyoto Treaty as only a first step to reversing the damage as well as the temperature. The Protocol also reaffirms the principle that developed countries have to pay, and supply technology to, other countries for climate-related studies and projects. This was originally agreed in the UNFCC. Each ratifying “Annex I” country has agreed to limit emissions to the levels described in the protocol, but many countries have limits that are set above their current production. These "extra amounts" can be purchased by other countries on the open market. So, for instance, Russia currently easily meets its targets, and can sell off its credits for millions of dollars to countries that don't yet meet their targets, (to Canada for instance.) This rewards countries that meet their targets, and provides financial incentives to others to do so as soon as possible: Countries also receive credits through various shared "clean energy" programs and “Carbon Dioxide sinks” in the form of forests and other systems that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The protocol left several issues open to be decided later by the Conference of Parties, (COP.) The COP attempted to resolve these issues at its meeting in the Hague, in late 2000, but was unable to reach an agreement due to disputes between the European Union on the one hand (which favored a tougher agreement) and the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia on the other (which wanted the agreement to be less demanding and more flexible.) In 2001, a continuation of the previous meeting (COP6) was held in Bonn, Germany, where the required decisions were adopted. After some concessions, the supporters of the protocol (led by the European Union) managed to get Japan and Russia on board, by allowing more carbon dioxide sinks. COP7 was held in Marrakech from October 29-Nonvember 9, 2001 to finalize the details of the protocol. The first real meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, (MOP) was held in Montreal from November 28-December 9, 2005, along with the 11th conference of the COP. President Bush has indicated that he does not intend to submit the treaty for ratification, not because he does not support the general idea, but because of the strain he believes the treaty would put on the economy. He emphasizes the uncertainties he asserts are present in the climate change issue. Furthermore, he is not happy with the details of the treaty. For example, he does not support the split between Annex I countries and others. Bush said of the treaty, “This is a challenge that requires a 100 percent effort; ours, and the rest of the world's. The world's second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases is China, yet, China was entirely exempted from the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol. India and Germany are among the top emitters, yet, India was also exempt from Kyoto. America's unwillingness to embrace a flawed treaty should not be read by our friends and allies as any abdication of responsibility. To the contrary, my administration is committed to a leadership role on the issue of climate change. Our approach must be consistent with the long-term goal of stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.” The White House has come under criticism for downplaying reports that link human activity and greenhouse gas emissions to climate change and that a White House official and former oil industry advocate, Philip Cooney, adjusted descriptions of climate research that had already been approved by government scientists. The White House has denied that Philip Cooney watered down reports. In June 2005, State Department papers showed the administration thanking Exxon executives for the company's "active involvement" in helping to determine climate change policy, including the US stance on Kyoto. At the G-8 meeting in June 2005 administration officials expressed a desire for "practical commitments industrialized countries can meet without damaging their economies". According to those same officials, the United States is on track to fulfill its pledge to reduce its carbon intensity 18 percent by 2012. In the New York Times, Washington Post’s Paul Krugman was quoted saying, “that the use of carbon intensity means the target reduction of 18 percent is still actually an increase in overall emissions”. The position President Bush has taken on the Kyoto treaty has been extremely narrow in my view. Even the non-environmentally conscious can actually see the gradual changes in climate. Ordinary US citizens now realize global warming is a huge problem, and it is partly caused by human activity. I believe as an oil man, President Bush is protecting his interest and the intrest of his base of support, (the oil companies) by not wanting to commit to ratifying the Kyoto Protocol. The United States has signed the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, a pact that allows those countries to set their goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions individually, with no enforcement in place. Supporters of the pact see it complementing the Kyoto Protocol but being more flexible, while critics have said the pact will be ineffective if there are no enforcements in place. How will we measure and determine if they are indeed meeting the requirements? Nine north-eastern states including California, have pledged to adopt Kyoto style legal limits on greenhouse emissions, but no one has to date revealed what that plan would entail. Some people say if Bush were to ratify the Kyoto Protocol it would hurt the U.S. economy because the treaty is based on uncertain science. Others say this is needed to protect the environment and could create new business opportunities. Are we to believe that it is “uncertain science” when we can explain what is so apparently obvious to all of us? As a society, we deem ourselves to be scientifically and technologically advanced but can we actually be unable to measure or determine that the trend is moving towards critical levels? Also, how can anyone still believe we would not be able to create new economic opportunities if we commit to reducing emissions and cleaning up the environment? If we are still relying on fossil fuel, and willing to drive SUV’s, Vans, and Hummers, and most oil companies looking for more oil wells and trying to invest in building new oil refineries, how can we ever reverse global warming or at the very least try to reduce it? Most environmentalists believe that we only have ten years to reduce the greenhouse effect, but we have to start NOW! In other words, they believe, in ten years it will be too late to do anything about it. --------------------- - BACK TO INDEX - REPLY - QUOTE - EDIT - DELETE -

The full topic: No Advanced Degrees- JUST PLAIN EDUCATION Maggie - Monday, September 25 2006, 22:45:57 (CEST) Re: The Sound of Sentiment is always heard Maggie - 09/27 22:58

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