Russia recently ratified the Kyoto treaty, but environmentalists aren’t too thrilled. The reason? Kyoto, they say, simply won’t make too much difference in controlling greenhouse gases, and will not reduce warming in the Arctic.
Obviously, the fact that Kyoto is an exercise in futility is no surprise to sceptics of global warming. Steve Milloy of the Cato Institute argues that graphs depicting near-surface air temperatures in arctic regions debunk the case for blaming man-made activities on warming trends:
One reason Kyoto won’t work in reducing greenhouse gases is that it ignores the biggest emitters, China and India, as well as 100 other developing countries that are currently exempt.
Bjorn Lomborg, author of “The Sceptical Environmentalist,” argues that money going toward compliance with Kyoto would be better spent on fighting AIDS, improving sanitation and providing clean drinking water in developing countries.
Source: Editorial, Kyoto as Tip of the Iceberg, Investor’s Business Daily, December 21, 2004.
For more on Global Warming: Treaties http://eteam.ncpa.org/policy/Global_Warming/Treaties/
FMF Policy Bulletin/ 04 January 2005
