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Support Global Warming Treaty
Ratification of the Kyoto Protocol is a make-or-break decision for the United States. The U.S. should accept the result of more than 10 years of international climate-change research and negotiations and take appropriate action. The U.S. Global Change Research Program has greatly expanded our knowledge of climate change mechanisms, prevention, and adaptation. Research has shown that since the Industrial Revolution and especially during the last century, humans have had a discernable impact on Earth's climate.
The Sixth Conference of Parties (COP6) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is now underway in The Hague to work toward the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. If enacted, the agreement will require the United States and other industrialized nations to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases to at least five percent below 1990 emission levels or face agreed upon penalties.
The U.S. has yet to adopt any international policy that sets greenhouse gas emission limits to reduce future impacts of global warming. As visible effects of global warming emerge, responsible citizens can no longer defer action. Coastal areas, including those in the U.S., will be hit especially hard. As the largest international emitter of greenhouse gases and a world leader, the U.S. must take initiative in adopting the Kyoto Protocol.
Some critics will claim that U.S. support of the Kyoto Protocol is undesirable. One argument heard is that the economic impact would be devastating. Although the price of reaching emission goals may be high, we know it is small compared to the price of environmental disasters. International oil corporations will experience less demand for petroleum, but increased investment in domestic wind, solar, and hydro-based alternative energy industries will reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and provide broad based growth throughout the country in innovative energy sources.
Other skeptics, including George W. Bush, will say that the scientific basis for global warming is still questionable. However, these critics often cite studies funded by oil companies or others with a vested interest in sustaining the current level of emissions. Also, the research that refutes global warming is often posted on the web or in newsletters of special interest groups. It's not published in peer-reviewed journals because it would not meet the scientific standards of such publications. The number and credibility of critics has been steadily declining as scientific research has continued.
Both supporters and critics note that even if an agreement on the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol is reached at COP6, the treaty faces a challenge in the U.S. Senate. However, environmental policies should not be partisan issues, and we cannot put self-interests first, for the whole nation shares the environment. The Senate will ratify the Kyoto Protocol if individual citizens take it upon themselves to tell their senators how important the environment is. The voice of many must speak louder than the dollars of a few.
Built on sound science, the Kyoto Protocol has a broad and growing support base from governmental and environmental groups around the world. The U.S. should take the steps necessary to ratify it immediately.
The Editors.
