U.S. President George W. Bush announced in late March that his administration did not support the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement that requires industrialized countries to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as a way to prevent global warming.

That was not altogether unexpected, considering that the Republican Party has traditionally believed that the market is the final judge and has therefore taken a somewhat detached attitude toward environmental issues. In other words, the Republicans are more concerned about economic growth than about environmental protection.

The Bush announcement brings to mind a press conference given by his predecessor, President Bill Clinton, in November 1997, at which he proposed a zero-percent target for CO2 emissions in 2010. Clinton was speaking ahead of the Kyoto meeting, which is officially known as the Third Conference of Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP3. At that time, the European Union was calling for a 15-percent uniform cut. Growth-conscious Japanese industries threw their weight behind the U.S. proposal, while environmental groups expressed disappointment and anger.