"he's gone and blown it"

Richard Gwyn does an amazing job of undercutting his own argument in his column today.  Here's his thesis:

It's that the treaty itself [i.e., the Kyoto Protocol] should be an international one that matters. This [i.e., the fact that the treaty is an international treaty] provides the mechanism by which, as public concern about the environment develops in this country, politicians everywhere will be put under increasing pressure to translate generalities into concrete action.

And this is happening.

Got it?  The "dynamic" (to use Gwyn's word) is that Kyoto will magically force the hands of politicians into doing something about "climate change".  "Canadians understand this", intones Gwyn, and for Stephen Harper not to, in Gwyn's locution, "understand that Canadians understand this", is, again in his words, "singularly stupid".  Fair enough.  But let's take a look at the examples which Gwyn provides of how "effective" Kyoto is (these are the examples which Gwyn uses to illustrate his "this is happening" declaration, noted above).

In China, it's becoming politically acceptable for people to complain about environmental pollution. The U.S. performance on reducing greenhouse gas emissions is probably now better than ours, if only because of actions taken at the state level rather than in Washington.

*ahem*

Notice anything about those two examples?  Here's a hint: the US has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol, and in Gwyn's own description, China, while a signatory, is entitled to a "free ride".  Whatever it is that is causing these beneficial changes in China and the US, it ain't Kyoto.  Should we clean up the environment?  Undoubtedly.  Is the magical totem of "Kyoto" the only, or even the best, mechanism for achieving that goal?  Unlikely.

Comments

[Mark Francis]

Well, the also very feeble US performance is due to the performance of some State and local governments bucking the Feds' line. Kyoto is most certainly is a motivating rallying cry, as these same forces making changes in the US have been pushing for Kyoto to be signed.