Kyoto Protocol

Kyoto Protocol

In the world today there are talks about why and how the people of this planet are polluting the rivers, lakes, soil, and even air. With these talks countries are coming up with great ways to reduce this problem. They see the effects and they are happy and life goes on but there is another problem, the one the everyday people just can’t solve with their own hands, that problem is the theory of global warming. During December of 1997, a meeting in Kyoto, Japan, started a huge trend to try to improve the world’s greenhouse gas releasing which could cause an unnatural shift in climate throughout the world. This meeting was called the Kyoto Protocol and about thirty- eight industrialized countries agreed to lower their emissions of major greenhouse gases below 1990 levels. (Rowntree) In this research we are trying to find how the Kyoto Protocol is an example of globalization.

Globalization is the integration of world economies. Globalization affects productivity, imports and exports, technology, and growth rates. (Questia) Some of the trends in globalization are an increase in international trade, the use of global telecommunications, an increase in immigration, development of global financial systems, and the development of global business standards. In this case of the Kyoto Protocol, the European Union is one of the strongest advocates of regulations. With this the European Union today is lower than what it was in the 1990’s. ( Rowntree) Of course, this is good for the environment, but there are many people out of jobs due to the moving of jobs to china and other countries and the lowering of emissions. That is a large factor in the process of ratification in many other countries. In Canada the loss of jobs will be enormous and the cost of energy will be higher. ( Taylor) On November 27, 2002, a speech to the Alberta Legislature stated that there is no certainty that greenhouse gases are the cause for global warming, but there is certainty that implementing the Kyoto Protocol will cost the Canadian economy. Also stated in the same speech a man, whom it did not state his name but he was an expertise in this area, was saying that the government should look at all the possibilities before the ratification. ( Lord )

The same problems are rising in the United States. The EPA is trying to lower the Regulations in the Clean Air Act before the senate can ratify the Protocol. ( Bugnion) We are trying to save jobs of people in high industrial business but it is hard at this point cause most are moving to china where it is cheaper to make product. If the protocol is ratified, it will disrupt the U.S. economy and that is why the President did not have trouble making the decision of no which with that it would not be brought before the senate. ( Christianson) There have been protests about this decision by college students. In the Washington Times, a woman from a local university stated that during the summer of 2001, many people from across the nation would be protesting in Washington. ( Billups) With this there are many people who also protested against the US’s unwillingness to ratify it. I believe the United States will have the hardest time trying to get our act together. I think that because of the many steps our government takes and how we handle the thoughts of our people in this great nation.

In my mind the Kyoto Protocol is just another of many steps that will try to reduce the effects of global warming. It will not help if the major countries that emit these gases will not