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Kyoto Treaty a Reality, an Accord is reached!
Great news for planet Earth. Dignitaries from many nations worked through the night for 2 straight days in Bonn Germany to reach a deal on the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty.
Its not perfect. In fact there are several key problems with the current agreeement. But the fact is that its a framework, its a start, its SOMETHING! Saying that we dont have all the answers and just deciding to do nothing is not the answer, working on the problem and resolving to do something is the answer.
There is a another session today where all 185 countries present in Bonn can negotiate further but the Accord is in good shape after MOST of the major industrial powers came to an agreement. Russia, Japan, Australia, Canada AND the European Union are on board. There is one conspicous absence, the United States, but the rest of the world has elected to proceed without US support (thankfully.)
Again, its not perfect, and its not over, but the fact that an agreement was reached is monumental. Also of worthy note is that even though the current deal allows several exceptions it does still have real "teeth" and will significantly reduce the greenhouse gases on our planet.
For more info check the linked ABCNEWS story. Kyoto Accord Reached: abcnews
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Comments
Who Cares? Re: Kyoto Treaty a Reality, an Accord is reached!
Who cares? Blah, blah, blah, we don't need to knuckle under to every Euro-trash dumbass idea. At least we have a Prez with ballz that doesn't kowtow to the Euro-Left. More for us I'd say---Turn up the A/C & fire up the grill!! Oh, and gimme some more cabbage---
Re: Who Cares? Re: Kyoto Treaty a Reality, an Accord is reached!
again, very nice and substantive response, thanks for your input cowa bunghole.
Oh stop being so full of yourself
Yawn----Oh well, lunch is over, off to more useful pursuits--
Re: Who Cares? Re: Kyoto Treaty a Reality, an Accord is reached!
"euro trash dumbass idea" and "Prez with balls" are totally incorrect. this treaty was proposed and worked on originally in the US and in Japan. and the US prez has no balls at all or he would stand up to industry rather than bow to it.
this is a frickin worthy cause, and as for "Khowa", that idiot is full of "cabbage" as it is
Do you think for yourself, or swallow the lefty Line?
Really, is this a Tech site, or some pro-left sheep, and pro-right cow site? Give it a rest, the so-called Kyoto accords are seriously flawed and shouldn't be implemented as is. So GWB is trying to get a better deal for the US, that's one of the things he's supposed to do. F*CK the rest of the world--that's right, the hell with them. As far as caving in to industry, what about Bill Clinton and the DMCA? This onerous piece of "legislation" is bought & paid for by the media companies to persecute individuals, such as the DeCSS kid & EBook russkie
Re: Do you think for yourself, or swallow the lefty Line?
uh yeah, ok, call out the "pro left sheep" and or "pro right cows" and then sound off as captain pro right. and add to that "@!#$ the rest of the world." very nice touch. i can tell you have certainly "thought" this through yourself.
BTW, this is an information site which occasionally includes political rants. dont like it, then dont read it.
substantive debate only please!
I just wanted to say that I posted this story because I believe its important regardless of which side you are on. I do believe in doing something about the problem of global warming. If you dont, or have something else to say about the matter, which is serious, then fine say it. But lets try not to deteriorate in an ad hominem flaming argument, that is a waste of everyones time.
I am NOT suggesting you dont speak out, whatever you believe, but calling somebody else names rather than speaking factually and substantively about the issue issue is a lame ass excuse for an original thought.
You're on the Soapbox, Jack, Get a thicker skin
I've been on this site looking at stuff for several months, and there's been a steady increase in the anti-GWB rants. So be it, I know the Democrats are still hung up on theelection, but the original story is REAL THIN--ex. NON-EXISTENT on detail:
>Also of worthy note is that even though the current deal allows >several exceptions it
> does still have real "teeth" and will >significantly reduce >the greenhouse gases on our planet
Oh? and how? Will there be monitoring? Global Warming police? Useless economic sanctions? Those worked real well in Bosnia BTW. And did zilch in Kosovo, but that's another story. The EU et. al. can't enforce anything, and if you think the Indians and Chinese will be well-behaved, think again. Methinks you give the rest of the world WAYYYYY too much credit--thus far it's all lip service, these other countries haven't done nuttin', and I doubt they will.
>There is
> one conspicous absence, the United States, >but the rest of the world has elected to proceed
> without US support (thankfully.)
>
Typical knee jerk--"if the EU & some other countries think it's good, it must be good for the US" Not everything the "rest of the world" approves is good--RE: UN resolutions condemning Israel over the years. Sometimes you gotta be the leader and not go along with th crowd, y'know? I haven't seen what it was they approved this latest meeting, but I'm sure it's even more biased against the US than the last KA I read a few months ago.
Re: You're on the Soapbox, Jack, Get a thicker skin
While the Kyoto Accord/Protocol/Civic whatever is a step in the right direction (or maybe just a lean), there are some serious problems with it that, in his own special kindergarten way, Khowa has pointed out.
First is monitoring and enforcement. Who will do the monitoring? A special UN taskforce? Scary stuff! Or will each signing nation monitor themselves (we all know how well this will work). And if they are over the set limits, then what will happen? If you are thinking about economic sanctions, this is BAD BAD BAD. They usually don't accomplish anything (see Iraq, Libya, etc etc) and in fact might exacerbate (sp?) the problem. If a country is restricted on trade, then 2 things happen. First, they lose alot of money and can then no longer afford the relatively expensive anti-pollution measures. 2nd, they must increase domestic production of items which means more pollution in the country. Kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it?
Next big problem are the countries that aren't part of it because they are still developing. India, China, etc. When these guys reach even half of the industrial capacity per capita that the Industrialized countries do, watch out! And China just loves that coal power. Of course, they could always use more nuclear reactors, especially the kind that produce bomb-grade material. I seriously doubt that these countries are going to embrace clean technologies (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, etc) because they are not cose effective and completely reliable.
The problem with the Kyoto Accord is that it is an attempt to regulate the people of the world as if they were under one government. They aren't, unfortunately, and thus this accord lacks teeth and doesn't offer up any solutions.
Yes, we all know that the US environmental policy sucks, especially as of late with our beloved GWB (shoulda voted Libertarian!). But these kinds of things are definitely an internal matter. If you don't like US env policy, then vote for better candidates, get active, stop buying big vehicles, invest in fuel cell/alternative fuel technologies, etc. Oh, and stop encouraging companies to produce disposable products. Geeze, that pisses me off. Disposable cameras, cell phones, etc. Pre-made brown-bag meals (Lunchables) that taste horrible and come with too much packaging. Also, recycle as much as you can. Here in Atlanta (at least my neighborhood) recycling is practically non-existant. Drink water instead of Cokes and stuff (you end up conserving energy, water, metals, etc).
Do a few of these things and you might even save some money.
Do your part in the war effort! Uncle Sam needs you!
Soylent Green is people!
OK. I'm done.
Re: You're on the Soapbox, Jack, Get a thicker skin
Dude, thanks for your concern but my "skin" is fine. In fact, I actually post stories here and deal with commentary all the time. Dont like the anti GWB stuff, dont like this post, then quit whining at me and post a story!
You can login and use the storyadmin just like I do. There are a few guidlines, and please dont abuse it, but this site is about open info, its not just about my opinion.
You might want to lay off the name calling and inflammatory crap because it doesnt help your cause and it doesnt seem to suit you. This last post was the first one where you actually had something to say. Its a start, congrats.
OK, sorry to diverge there, but let me address what you say (check this @!#$, we are discussing this now), my story does lack details, BY DESIGN, I dont mean to repeat what the linked story details, want more details, READ THE LINK, uh, thats why its there. This post and the other "anti GWB" stuff that gets put here are earned, they arent just blank jabs at the administration (and they having nothing to do with the "election", YOU brought that up.) Its my opinion (and shared by others, and BTW I am NOT a democrat, not even close) that the current administration has made some serious mistakes, one of them happens to be not meeting the commitments the US made on Kyoto. I consider this to be important, I consider the temp of the Earth to be important, imagine that. As to the EU and Bosnia and Kosovo, OK, whatever you say, the genocide was stopped (albeit not by sanctions, by tanks and bombs), however ineffective you consider that, but thats another debate altogether, lets try to focus some shall we. These "countries" and the UN and EU HAVE dont alot, they have a collective record of doing many positive things, despite your misinformation that they have done "nuttin." And as for the "keen jerk" load of crap, well, thats a load of crap. My position on this issue is based on a little thing called SCIENCE, not on following any damn crowd, european or not. I am glad the rest of the WORLD has the same opinion. By your own logic, the opinion should be based on research, science, etc, uh, reality and not what the crowd says, that goes for any crowd, even the mighty USA. I agree that sometimes you do have to go against what others say when you believe they are wrong, thats not the issue. In case you havent noticed, I am against the grain in my own country.
Re: You're on the Soapbox, Jack, Get a thicker skin
Nice rant sir. All I can say is you are correct. Thats what I tried to convey, I dont think Kyoto is PERFECT by any means. But I think it is far more responsible to START to work on a problem than to ignore it.
You are correct about Russia, China and India. Europe already does a great job of consuming wisely. These other guys wont be easy but maybe by making clean alternatives economically viable and by showing them it can be done successfully we can help them to get started.
Also the problem with these countries treating everything separately and NOT as one entity (despite that fact that they are disparate countries) is that we all have ONE sky. We have to deal with it globally, there is no way to avoid that. It might be damn hard to do, but there is no option, this is not something we can just ignore and live through.
And BTW, I own a hybrid car and voted for Harry Browne.
Re: You're on the Soapbox, Jack, Get a thicker skin
You are correct sir. It is a start. Unfortunately, I think the start is so watered down that it will give too many under-educated folks the warm fuzzies and might lessen the overall idea of "individual responsibility".
"Geeze, you own an Excursion? And you don't have any kids? Not very environmentally responsible".
"Yeah, but the Kyoto Accord will fix all that!".
OK, this is probably a bit of exaggeration.
And yes, I know you have a Honda Insight. My question is, where ya gonna put the kids (ample trunk space?). I can't wait until next year or so. A few companies will have hybrid sedans. Next spring we're getting rid of my wife's Montero and getting a Subaru. After the truck is paid off, I am gonna get a hybrid for commuting purposes.
Re: You're on the Soapbox, Jack, Get a thicker skin
Hello. My friend and I are in grade 10 (level 1)doing a project for "Canadien Economy". We were asked, what is the Kyoto Accord/Protocol? What are the economic implications?...and can we afford not to impliment the accord? We would love it if you'd e-mail us back! Thank you very much! Have a nice day!
-Erica & Ashley