July 27, 2005
THE BUSH CLIMATE CHANGE ACCORD HAS A RING TO IT:
New Asia-Pacific climate plan (Dennis Shanahan, July 27, 2005, The Australian)
AUSTRALIA has joined the US, China, India and South Korea in a secret regional pact on greenhouse emissions to replace the controversial Kyoto climate protocol.The alliance, which is yet to be announced, will bring together nations that together account for more than 40 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
To be known as the Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate, the grouping will aim to use the latest technologies to limit emissions and to make sure the technologies are available in the areas and industries that need them most.
The US and Australia have refused to sign the Kyoto protocol -- an international agreement setting greenhouse gas emission targets for developed countries by 2012. China and India are not limited by it because they are considered developing economies.
The US initiative has been discussed between the five nations for five months and is viewed as a practical attempt to rein in greenhouse emissions without harming development or economic growth in the region.
This could be the most entertaining moment of what has been a long and hilarious crack-up on the Left, as George Bush secures the most significant enviroinmental protection measure in human history. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 27, 2005 12:00 AM
gwb is disemboweling the left, issue by issue. it's almost like a greek tragedy. tarantino is probably working on the script right now.
Posted by: cjm at July 27, 2005 2:14 AMgwb is disemboweling the left, issue by issue. it's almost like a greek tragedy. tarantino is probably working on the script right now.
Posted by: cjm at July 27, 2005 2:15 AMIt's so easy, it can't be a tragedy -- rather a comedy by Aristophenes.
Posted by: jd watson at July 27, 2005 5:07 AMMost won't care. It might inspire Geldof-like comments from some, or a couple newspapers articles that are positive.
Posted by: RC at July 27, 2005 5:22 AMThe Left will be upset that we aren't taking orders from the EU and the UN. That will be enough to keep them in a froth.
Posted by: bart at July 27, 2005 6:52 AMThe accord won't be perfect, and thus will be unacceptable.
Posted by: David Cohen at July 27, 2005 8:13 AMBart is right. The real point is to destroy American Sovereignty, not to shave the whales.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at July 27, 2005 10:48 AMKyoto was planned to maximally defenestrate the US economy wrt other countries: emission reduction by GDP, excluding China/India, setting 1990 as the base year, equating CO2 (clean) with SO2/CO (dirty).
It will be interesting to see how the environmental activists react to a proposal that doesn't try to specifically harm the US and takes into account the world's biggest polluter (China).
Most likely it'll be dismissed out of hand.
Posted by: Gideon at July 27, 2005 2:46 PM