Staff Editorial: Bush not sold on Kyoto

On July 23, 178 nations agreed to salvage the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, a pact that commits the world's industrialized nations to reduce harmful emissions that are responsible for global warming. Signers include virtually every First World country on earth, except for one glaring omission: the United States.

Calling the treaty "fatally flawed," President Bush chose to pull support for the Kyoto Protocol in March of this year. Former president Bill Clinton was a heavy supporter of the pact.

Despite lobbying efforts by representatives for the other seven most heavily industrialized nations at the G-8 conference last week, Bush refused to sign what has become one of the largest environmental treaties in history.

For a country that produces one quarter of all greenhouse gases on earth to blatantly ignore a pact to reduce these emissions is a dangerous and reckless decision, and for Bush, a selfish one.

The Kyoto Protocol calls for a gradual transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy. By choosing to not sign the pact, Bush - a former oil man who still has financial ties to the industry - has shown that the interests of industry and profitability outweigh his concerns for the environment, if he does in fact have any.

One of Bush's campaign promises was to impose mandatory controls on carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. By dumping out on Kyoto, Bush has managed to not only ignore the problem of global warming but also to renege on one of the promises that got him elected.

Without the support of the United States, the Kyoto Protocol will not be nearly as effective as it might have been if the United States had signed on. In the coming years, the world's industrialized nations will reduce their emissions and prove that global warming can be reduced.