Sunday, January 02, 2005

Traders or traitors?

When you look at the Kyoto Protocol system for trading credits for greenhouse gasses (the ones that contribute to global warming), it looks like companies in advanced industrial nations are just buying their way out of problems. But, since global warming is a global problem, what matters is the overall reduction in greenhouse gasses. With incentives like the ones included in Kyoto, companies get to make decisions that best fit their resources and capabilities while the world makes at least some progress toward reductions. It's a method that worked well to reduce acid rain in the United States. If only the United States, the biggest producer of greenhouse gasses, would join the Kyoto Protocol, then the world could really start making some progress.

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1 comment:

Unknown said...

I agree with you traders = traitos but I am having a very hard time how one could produce the best possible product without a reward. It appear only a few create a product out of love or care, most are in for the money. All will accept a higher reward but never a lower and rarely and equal. Any ideas for receiving and giving without a medium nor personal sacrifice are most welcome.