U.S. President George W. Bush has announced his opposition to an international global-warming treaty, citing the harm it could do the U.S. economy and the costs it would impose upon its workers. Predictably, this decision not to pursue approval of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change generated a firestorm of criticism around the world.
Given the outcry, it would seem that there are few arguments to support the American position. This is incorrect.
The Kyoto Protocol would require 38 developed nations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants by 5 percent between 1990 and 2010. Achieving this goal would require government interventions to control greenhouse-gas emissions and reduce the use of carbon-based fuels, including the imposition of new transnational interventions.