Just a little over a week ago, the White House signed the Kyoto Global Climate Treaty that would severely restrict industry and consumers due to a concern over global warming. Although the treaty has been in the possession of the U.S. for some time, President Clinton chose not to sign it in hopes of getting concessions at the recent conference in Rio. When that did not seem possible, the White House signed the treaty.
Now let me hasten to add that the treaty will not be ratified by the Senate. In fact, Senator Jesse Helms wants a quick vote on the treaty so that the defeat can be used to prevent the Clinton administration from implementing parts of the treaty through executive order. But Vice-President Al Gore has already made it clear he will not submit the treaty to the Senate any time soon. Nevertheless, at the moment, the U.S. is a signer of a treaty that would do great harm.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently said that "full implementation of this treaty would cost millions of American jobs, sending industries to countries like Mexico, India, and China, who are not bound by the treaty."
Wharton Econometric Forecasting Associates predicts that under the treaty "1.8 million jobs would be lost, gas prices would skyrocket 50 cents a gallon, family energy bills would go up $440, and every man, woman, and child would have to fork over an extra $308 a year." They are concerned that the poor and elderly might be the most hit by higher energy bills.
Meanwhile there are 19,000 scientists who have signed a petition stating that there is no convincing evidence that global warming is taking place. These are all good reasons for the Senate to reject the Kyoto treaty.
I'm Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries, and that's my opinion.
© 1998 Probe Ministries International