The magical realism of the Kyoto Treaty

Remember all the static and noise by environmentalists and lefty’s everywhere regarding the Kyoto treaty? And how the “evil” George W. Bush was responsible for the destruction of the earth because he didn’t sign it? (Even though the Senate rejected the treaty in the first place-but let’s not let facts get in the way of a good Bush bashing.) Well, as I have commented before, the Kyoto treaty doesn’t work as well as its' proponents shrill. Even though I am not a big fan of Mr. Bush, I do agree with him on his stance on Kyoto. And it looks like most member nations of the G-8 are also starting to see the light of reason.

Oh no! Gas Emissions!!

It seems that the European Union is having a very difficult time controlling gas emissions. They are hoping that the carbon trading scheme that they are relying on starts to work the way that they had intended it to do. Unfortunately, there were too many carbon credits doled out at the start of the program and the value of the credits and their supposed incentive did not materialize. We do know that the E.U. just loves depicting itself (see my last post here) as being far more environmentally responsible than the U.S. while claiming that industry can only benefit from a cap-and-trade scheme. I say forget cap-and –trade and if we must have pollution control than just have a carbon tax. It will save us from a lot of headaches.

Climate Change Hypocrisy

From The Economist

“A year ago they were brimming with selfless idealism. They agreed to make deep cuts in carbon emissions (by a fifth from 1990 levels by 2020), even if other rich countries did not follow. The signal was clear: Europe will start saving the planet now, even if the selfish Americans (not to mention the Chinese and Indians) are not ready. Bigger cuts were promised if other countries joined in, prompting much self-congratulatory talk about the EU's “leading role”.’

“That was then. A year on, with the world economy looking wobblier, the March summit was a less uplifting affair. Leaders from countries with powerful heavy-industry lobbies called for explicit measures to “protect” European firms in case talks on a global climate-change deal failed (and left the Europeans pushing ahead with tough curbs on their own). In a move that would make an American divorce lawyer proud, Germany, France, Austria, Italy and the Czech Republic all asked the EU to plan for failure, insisting that defensive measures must be agreed before climate-change talks in Copenhagen at the end of 2009.”

Comments: Remember all the snarling in early December that was taking place in Bali, Indonesia concerning America’s role or lack thereof in the global warming/climate change dialectic? America has taken a global public relations beating by not participating in the Kyoto Protocol or cowing to climate change zealots. European politicians have had a field day taking cheap shots at U.S. policy in order to pander to their constituents. They are helped along by American environmental groups that have seen a rare opportunity to legitimize their views and consolidate their position on a global scale.

But it seems that the mechanism that the E.U. is using (Emissions Trading Scheme or ETS) to guide it along to a greener economy and a better world is not working as well as was hoped or intended. There are already squabbles and divisions appearing despite the fact that no one will admit it just yet. European industries have been doing a neat end-around the ETS by funding projects in the developing world and have threatened to continue to move some industries abroad.

So now European countries, and their respective industry lobbyists, are calling for a sort of environmental protectionism or eco-tariff on products produced in countries that do not have measures as tough as their own. All while the global economy is slowing. Talk about putting a stake in their own hearts.

But this gets better. In Bali, if you remember, environmentalists and some of the scientists that support their view called for bigger cuts than the Kyoto treaty while knowing all too well that global energy use is expected to rise considerably by 2030.

Europe’s ETS is a sort of pilot program for a global carbon trading scheme like Kyoto. What we see happening in Europe is what happens when the rubber hits the road; when all the political hot air gets let out and the reality of carbon-trading in a world that needs economic growth becomes impossible to avoid. And America, the favorite bad apple of environmentalists and European opportunists, will end up having the last laugh if it avoids bad ideas like ETS.