Alarmed by a flurry of state legislative activity addressing
the serious problem of global warming, the corporate-funded American
Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) drafted model legislation
entitled, "State Responses to Kyoto Climate Change Protocol"
in 1998 and a "General Resolution on Climate Change"
in July 2003. The similar model bills both prohibit "the
proposal or promulgation of state regulations intended to reduce
emissions of greenhouse gases, prior to [federal] ratification
of the Kyoto climate change protocol... and enactment of implementing
legislation." The international community has developed agreements
to reduce heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions, including the
1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Global Climate Change
(FCCC) and its 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The U.S. signed and ratified
the FCCC but withdrew from the Kyoto agreement. In support of
its global warming bills, ALEC makes unsubstantiated (and disproved)
claims, including that the Kyoto Protocol unfairly burdens developed
countries and enactment of policies to meet emissions reduction
targets would harm the economy. While Kyoto does require developed
countries to take the lead in the worldwide effort to reduce emissions,
it obliges all nations to establish greenhouse gas reduction programs
and to report on their progress. Moreover, concerns of "unfairness"
to developed countries have been addressed through incentives
for technology transfer from developed to developing countries,
measures allowing international trade in emission "credits",
and other articles promoting cooperation between developed and
developing countries. With regard to economic repercussions, two
comprehensive U.S. government analyses predicted the impact of
energy efficiency and renewable energy policies on the economy
to be minimal or positive. Moreover, a number of non-governmental
studies have reported that the production of energy from renewable
sources employs more people than that from coal. ALEC's two global
warming bills use bad science, misleading and selective reporting,
and a special interest bias to block states from taking action
on one of the most important environmental issues today. In the
words of the National Academy of Sciences, climate change is real,
in large part due to human activities, and likely to have "large,
abrupt and unwelcome" effects. ALEC should stop contributing
to the problem with its own hot air.
Ran 9/8/2003, 10/27/2003 |
