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Let's be sure we all understand the effect of Kyoto, really.
- The effect of Kyoto would be to reduce warming by .04 degrees Celsius in the year 2100
- The Kyoto Protocol calls for the industrialized countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions to 5.2% below 1990 emission levels for the period 2005 - 2012.
- Developing countries do not have to cut emissions.
- The Kyoto treaty expires in 2012.
- The Kyoto treaty has some serious flaws. For isntance, countries like Greenland which produce next to no emissions at all would be allowed to "sell" their quota on the open market. Industrialized nations could then "buy" this excess quota, allowing them to continue pumping the same levels of pollutions in to the air they historically have been. In this scenario, the net effect on the enviroment is really nothing other than economics. If the goal ultimately is to stop pollution, shouldn't we just give Greenland a gold star and not allow them to sell their "right" to pollute?
So if the Kyoto treaty were extended to the year 2100, the net change in "Global Warming" would be .04 degrees Celsius. Since the treath actually expires in 2012, the real effect is much less pronounced.
Now people will argue that you can't judge Kyoto on its own merrit. Rather, you must look at it as a step towards stricter controls that must follow the expiration of Kyoto. So far nobody's rejected the idealogy of cleaning up the enviroment, simple said that this is not the way to do it.
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