COMMENTARY | In a refreshing display of realism, Canada has become the first country to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocols, designed to force countries to reduce their production of carbon to combat global warming, according to the National Post.
The conservative government of Stephen Harper made the announcement, noting that the targets set by Kyoto to reduce greenhouse gases were not being met by Canada. This would have resulted in a $14 billion penalty to be paid by Canada should that country remain a party to the treaty.
The costs of complying with Kyoto would have been draconian, in any case. It would have resulted in a massive deindustrialization of the country, with restrictions on travel and energy consumption. No Canadian government could have been able to impose such measures and expect to survive the wrath of the voters.
Canada was also piqued that developing countries such as China and India were not required to meet any targets set by Kyoto. The United States is not a party of the agreement and is therefore not bound by any of its targets.
Kyoto was signed in 1997 at the height of the global warming hysteria. Since then doubts have set in about the science behind man-caused global warming. Repeated revelations of what amounted to science fraud on the part of climate scientists have also contributed to those doubts.
It is uncertain whether other countries will follow Canada out the door of Kyoto. The demands of the treaty have proven to be too harsh and to unrealistic for most of the parties to actually comply with. If, as many suspect, the problem it is supposed to address either does not exist or is far less severe than is being said, the incentive to remain in Kyoto is all but nil.
The departure of Canada from Kyoto and the prospect of the treaty's collapse should prove to be an object lesson for diplomats. It is one thing to work oneself into a fright and decide that something must be done about something like global warming. But it is another thing to actually live with the consequences of promises made in haste. A cold-eyed, dispassionate look must be made at climate change to ask whether it is a problem, how much it is, and what can realistically be done about it.
Source: Canada pulling out of Kyoto accord, Mark Kennedy, National Post, Dec. 12, 2011
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