Posted on 09/29/2004 2:09:48 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
WASHINGTON — Russian ratification of the Kyoto Protocol would leave U.S. companies cut off from new markets worth billions of dollars, according to supporters of a treaty aimed at limiting so-called greenhouse gases.
The United States signed the treaty in 1997 but has withdrawn from it.
That means U.S. producers of technologies that reduce consumption of fossil fuels will be left out of new global markets created as countries signing the treaty move to reduce their outputs of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, supporters said.
Members of Russian President Vladimir Putin's Cabinet were signing on this week to his request that the Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, ratify the treaty.
Russia's ratification would satisfy a treaty provision making it effective 90 days after it is ratified by industrialized countries responsible for 55 percent of the 1990 global emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
The treaty has been ratified by more than 100 countries, including Japan and all the countries of the European Union.
But the refusal of the United States and Australia to sign up means only Russia had sufficient 1990 emissions to push the total up to the 55 percent figure.
If Kyoto goes into force, foreign rather than U.S. companies making everything from wind energy technology to thermal windows will benefit from its provisions, said Jonathan Pershing of the World Resources Institute.
Pershing, a former deputy director of the State Department Office of Global Change who helped negotiate the treaty, said domestic producers in countries that are reducing greenhouse gases under the treaty will be favored over U.S. competitors.
In addition, financial companies that arrange emission trades under a Kyoto provision for selling pollution credits probably will not be U.S.-based, he said.
The accord sets 1990 as a baseline year against which developed countries must cut emissions and provides a trading mechanism whereby countries that produce less greenhouse gas than their 1990 baseline can sell "allowances" to those that fail to do so.
"Russia will benefit from a great wealth transfer as EU funds flow into the country in exchange for rights to Russian carbon dioxide allowances," said William O'Keefe, president of the George Marshall Institute.
Whether Russia will have billions of dollars in allowances to sell is in dispute.
Putin economic adiser Andrei Illarionov, an opponent of the treaty, said Russia is growing and soon will exceed its 1990 baseline. Caps on further emissions would inhibit the country's economy, he said.
The protocol was signed by the United States and other countries in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan. President Bill Clinton decided not to submit it to the Senate for ratification after 95 members signaled it would fail. After taking office in 2001, President Bush withdrew the United States as a signer.
"Sadly . . . this leaves the United States isolated," said Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense.
Boy, that's a tuff one!
Clinton signed it, but told Congress not to ratify it. Like Kerry, he liked to have it both ways.
Ain't it just like a an anti-capitalist leftist to fret about the missed profit opportunities of selling your own noose.
Carbon Dioxide is used by plants to grow and create oxygen don't the liberal pinheads realize that all we have to do is plant more trees!
That is a good point and saves us for now but I don't have a lot of faith in the U.S. Senate these days.
So, the question becomes: "What does Rice get out of this?"
If the American people are to be held holstage to the vagaries of one woman in the President's cabinet then they have a right to know why.
Kyoto is a threat to the American way of life, and Bush realized that early in his administration. What, now, is the rationale for not "unsigning" this piece of trash that Clinton signed and left for Bush to deal with?
I think Putin is playing political games--expressing support for the treaty knowing full well it will not be ratified by the Duma. Similar, actually, to Clinton. The Russians could afford this treaty a lot less than we can. So, we'll see.
Kyoto exempts China, India, and Brazil.
It's economic warfare and the euro's are eating it up.
Kyoto in the news again.
I guess the time has passed to unsign it.
Kerry and Heinz-Kerry apparently started dating at the 1992 Rio Summit where it was the time to do that.
I can't believe Teresa can just tell everyone she isn't going to release her tax returns when she is so deep in things that effect our public policy.
See: "Heinz Kerry has an ecology agenda" LINK in post #1
... and our consumers.
Bump!
MOSCOW, Sept 29 (Prime-Tass) -- Russia will ratify the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty to limit greenhouse gases, The Moscow Times daily reported Wednesday quoting Andrei Illarionov, President Vladimir Putin's top economic adviser. He has been the fiercest critic of the protocol. [That's huge.]
Asked Tuesday whether Russia would ratify the Kyoto Protocol, Illarionov said simply, "I think so."
The move would be a purely political calculation for Russia, he said. But he declined to say what Russia might receive in return.
"It’s not back-scratching," he said by telephone. "It's a gesture toward the European Union. Nothing more."
Illarionov said senior officials believe the treaty will not help the environment or boost the economy, contrary to the claims of its supporters. He declined to comment on Putin's personal views.
"Nobody among Russian officials believes the protocol is good for Russia," Illarionov said. "Nobody sees any sense in the economic nature of this document. Nobody sees any scientific relevance in this document. Nobody sees any advantages for Russia in this document. It is just purely politics."
On Monday Illarionov said that Russia would not be able to double its gross domestic product (GDP) in 10 years as planned by Putin if the parliament ratifies the Kyoto Protocol.
Illarionov said then that if the protocol was ratified, Russia would have to start buying quotas for greenhouse gas emissions by 2010, in order to sustain economic growth.
The Kyoto Protocol envisages all member countries reducing their emissions of six greenhouse gases linked to global warming by 5.2% compared to the 1990 levels or by 29% of the expected 2010 levels without the protocol.
Countries that do not meet their emission targets would be able to purchase unfilled quotas of other countries at open market, according to the protocol.
As of April, 122 countries accounting for about 44% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions had ratified or acceded to the Kyoto Protocol. For the treaty to become binding, it must be ratified by industrialized countries representing 55 % of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
The U.S., the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, responsible for about 25% of the world’s emissions, decided against ratifying the Kyoto protocol in 2001.
Russia, which accounts for 17.4% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, is the only country that could bring the treaty into force. The government, however, has been swaying back and forth on the issue and has used it as political leverage.
See post 33 directly above. If Illirianov is saying that Russia will probably ratify, that means he knows he's lost and that it's probably a done deal. Kyoto's a big mistake and he knows it, but Putin may have made up his mind and transmitted those wishes to the Duma.
How does this affect China and India, which aren't part of the treaty either? Baloney.
Not really. This is a scrap of worthless paper, signed by Clinton to embarass Bush, that was never ratified by the Senate.
It can be signed, unsigned, and signed again. Without Senate approval it's meaningless as law, but it can be given the status as de facto law by a liberal Legislature and/or Executive branch.
I can't believe Teresa can just tell everyone she isn't going to release her tax returns when she is so deep in things that effect our public policy.
Can you imagine if that was Laura Bush? The MSM would be all over her. Just another point of proof where the MSM shows its bias.
The rest of the developed world voluntarily cripples their economies and leaves them shackled with unreachable greenhouse gas limits. We on the other hand are free to expand and grow as much as we possibly can.
Seems like the 21st century will also be the American Century. The economics just sealed it.
And the cool thing is that our emissions (if any) get filtered by the rest of the globe before they get back to us. Too cool.
(Of course I realize that, being good stewards, we aim to decrease our hazardous emissions on our own anyway. It's just that greenhouse gases (CO2 etc) are not hazardous in any way)
ping
Thanks for remembering me!
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