Domestic Policy

Protestors Feel They Are Protecting The Environment

December 2, 2005 ⋅  E-Mail Article ⋅  Print Article ⋅ Post a comment

Protesters from around the world are uniting in their protest against countries that are not intent on ratifying the Kyoto protocol. The protestors are upset because they believe many of the modern industrialized nations are not meeting heir ethical obligations to reduce greenhouse effects caused by pollution emissions, and carbon emissions.

The Kyoto Protocol establishes greenhouse gas emissions goals for countries that have agreed to, and signed, the emissions agreement. The agreement specifies certain gases that must be controlled. Some of the unique gases declared in the Protocol include methane, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, hydro-fluorocarbons, per-fluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride.

The United States is not a ratified country bound by the Kyoto agreements. The United States has neither ratified nor withdrawn from the protocol. The protocol is non-binding over the United States until ratified.

President Bush has stated numerous times that he does not intend to ratify the treaty for the U.S. anytime soon. Bush has two major issues with the protocol. First President Bush believes that all nations should be bound by the treaty; he feels that developing nations should be bound by the same criteria for emissions as already industrialized nations. President Bush also believes the treaty would an unwanted strain on the U.S. economy. Many in the Bush administration also have spoken of the Presidents uncertainties he feels are prevalent when discussing the actual climate change issue associated with the Kyoto protocol.

Is the President right? Would this protocol place and already disadvantaged American workforce at a further disadvantage in regards to third world factories, where emission controls would not be an economic factor in doing business? Many also say Bush is trying to help out the American manufacturing market by not constraining them with the burden of additional costs in regards to new emission standard upgrades that would be required to meet new standards.

Independent Online Edition > Environment

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