A top White House official on Sunday dismissed the Kyoto Protocol, the first coordinated world response to tackling global warming by requiring industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
”The so-called Kyoto treaty would not do anything to mitigate the problems of global climate change… There are better ways to go,” said White House chief of staff Andrew Card on Fox News on Sunday.
The UN protocol calls for industrialised countries to cut their emissions to below 1990 levels by 2008-2012.
The accord was drawn up as a framework agreement in Kyoto, western Japan, in 1997, and fleshed out over the following four years to include a book of rules and procedures. It has now been ratified by all 15 European Union members and Japan.
The United States, which accounted for 36,1% of
greenhouse gas emissions in 1990, is not participating in the effort.
While acknowledging the negative effects of global warming, the United States has rejected the accord on the grounds it would cost too many jobs at a time of economic uncertainty.
”The president has a much better response to the global climate debate than the Kyoto Protocol,” Card said, explaining that markets should play a role in bringing about changes.
”If the United States were to adopt the Kyoto Protocol and take all of its mandate through our economy, we would put a lot people out of work. We would not have the growing economy that the rest of the world demands,” he said.
”So it’s a horrible response to what may not be a real big problem.” – Sapa-AFP