'Sovereign,' like 'love,' means anything you want it to mean; it's a word in the dictionary between 'sober' and 'sozzled.' -- Robert A. Heinlein
The Kyoto Accord goes into effect tomorrow, and all of those nations that were secretly hoping that they would be able to use the environmental whacko policies along with vague and scientifically unsupportable threats and warnings to force us to sign on.
The US Senate (wisely) rejected any attempt at ratification with an unopposed 95-0 against Kyoto, because they saw the damage that would have been done to our economy, while ignoring any hint of actually doing anything to fix the problems for which the Protocol was designed to correct. Even the very best they could hope for, with full ratification, support, enforcement and implementation, would be a fraction of a degree over the next century.
Look, folks, the efficiency and effectiveness of any society is how much energy is being manipulated by its citizens. In hunter/gatherer societies, the amount of energy expended is limited to the amount of effort that can be put forth by the individual. You put the wheel into the equation, you’re still limited to the amount of energy needed to lift the cargo from the ground to the cart, but it is much easier to lift than it is to lift and carry. That extra energy went into other directions, allowing for the chance to actually carry larger quantities of meat and fruit, and larger populations. Larger populations allow for diversification and specialization.
Invent the plow, and hook up a water buffalo, and the amount of energy available grew exponentially. Plowing the ground and domestication of animals allowed the production of more food than could be used by the local family/clan, which allowed for trade between clans/villages. The need to keep track of the trade and excess forced the invention of basic arithmetic and alphabets.
This process continued through the Industrial Age, when a man could call up as much energy as he needed to perform the most outlandish of tasks from being lifted hundreds of feet off the ground with the push of a button to destroying an entire city with a single bomb.
It all boils down to the amount of energy being manipulated, and how efficiently that energy gets manipulated.
What Kyoto does is cut the amount of energy available to the developed nations (under current technology) by 30%, while doing nothing to those nations that are just developing (and polluting like the proverbial smokestack at the same time).
Canada, for example, will have to cut back its production of greenhouse gases by 30% over the next few years. Given that Canada suffers from some of the coldest temperatures on the planet, when the mercury drops, they are going to be burning something to keep warm. Not to mention that Canada’s burgeoning oil industry (providing a huge chunk of America’s supply) requires processing that crude oil, which produces those same gases.
(Leave us not neglect Canada’s beef industry, and we all know about the methane content of cow farts...)
Well, all that starts tomorrow, so grab your popcorn, and start documenting the nations (that had proudly ratified it, while snidely pooh-poohing the US) as they drop out with absolutely no fanfare whatsoever.
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