I see Ed Morrissey at Hot Air beat me to the punch on this story (you had to know I was going to check around in the morning for any AGW stories and find it), which I was going to set up for late morning posting. He wonders if this is a big deal.
(Washington Post) Canada pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change Monday, saying the accord won’t help solve the climate crisis. It dealt a blow to the anti-global warming treaty, which has not been formally renounced by any other country.
Environment Minister Peter Kent said that Canada is invoking its legal right to withdraw and said Kyoto doesn’t represent the way forward for Canada or the world.
So, it is a big deal, but, not that big. Say, a 6 on a scale of 10. Why? Well, for one thing, Canadians favor globull warming initiatives (for Someone Else). For another
The protocol, initially adopted in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, is aimed at fighting global warming. Canada’s previous Liberal government signed the accord but did little to implement it and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government never embraced it.
Essentially, most countries that signed on failed to even come close to their targets. For another, the US, which never signed on to Kyoto (except for Gore symbolically signing it, since Clinton wouldn’t), reduced its greenhouse gas output pretty much by accident. And then there is this
“The Kyoto Protocol does not cover the world’s largest two emitters, United States and China, and therefore cannot work,†Kent said. “It’s now clear that Kyoto is not the path forward to a global solution to climate change. If anything it’s an impediment.â€
So, don’t get too wrapped up with Canada pulling out, as they are saying there is no point to being a part of the protocol when two of the worlds biggest “polluters” aren’t part. Kinda like having two National League baseball teams deciding they were going to use designated hitters: it handicaps the other teams.
Furthermore, Canada is still in favor of the Durban agreement, which will eventually place caps and taxes and stuff on countries. Once they get past the years of negotiation, and formal implementation in 2020.
If many more countries start dropping out, then it will be a big deal, particularly if European countries drop out. Don’t expect it to happen. Especially all the little countries who love getting free money from the countries that produce.
