Kyoto: Why We Can’t Say No

Kyoto: Why We Can’t Say No

In August of 2005 Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf of Mexico, causing over 1,604 deaths, 705 cases of missing persons, and at least seventy-five billion dollars worth of damages. Over half a million people were left impoverished and displaced. In our time of need, the United States looked to other countries for donations, and received nearly a billion dollars from over seventy governments. But as we were to soon find out, had the decision rested on the shoulders of the citizens of those countries alone, we would not have gotten much aid from anyone. Many people in other countries saw Hurricane Katrina as a just punishment for the United States’ refusal to implement the Kyoto Protocol. “Well, what’s that?” asked millions of Americans in confused unison. And some still do not know the answer.

The Kyoto Protocol is a treaty drafted in Kyoto, Japan (hence the name) in 1997 at the Conference of Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The treaty was only open to then current members of the UNFCCC and its main purpose, as stated by the United Nations Environment Program, is this:

The Kyoto Protocol is an agreement under which industrialized countries will reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2% compared to the year 1990 (but note that, compared to the emissions levels that would be expected by 2010 without the Protocol, this target represents a 29% cut). The goal is to lower overall emissions of six greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, HFCs, and PFCs - calculated as an average over the five-year period of 2008-12. National targets range from 8% reductions for the European Union and some others to 7% for the US, 6% for Japan, 0% for Russia, and permitted increases of 8% for Australia and 10% for Iceland. (2)

The emission of greenhouse gases, as