Rich Nations' Greenhouse Gases Up, Despite Kyoto: Most of rise in U.S.

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT/Reuters: Rich Nations' Greenhouse Gases Up, Despite Kyoto
By REUTERS
Published: August 31, 2006

OSLO (Reuters) - Industrialized nations' emissions of greenhouse gases edged up to the highest level in more than a decade in 2004 despite curbs meant to fight global warming, data compiled by Reuters showed on Thursday.

The figures, based on national submissions to the U.N. Climate Secretariat in Bonn, indicate many countries will have to do more to meet 2012 goals set by the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol for cutting emissions of gases from fossil fuels.

Emissions from 40 industrial nations climbed 1.6 percent overall to 17.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide -- mainly from power plants, factories and cars -- in 2004 from in 2003 even though oil prices were surging.

``We're not on track to solve climate change by any stretch of the imagination,'' said Alex Haxeltine, an expert at the University of East Anglia in England. Governments were doing little to plan for cuts in emissions beyond Kyoto, he added.

Most of the 2004 rise was caused by a 1.7 percent gain in emissions in the United States, the world's biggest source of greenhouse gases, to a record 7.07 billion metric tons. Emissions in the European Union and Canada also rose while Japan's dipped....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-environment-emissions.html

[Lisa]

1. I guess this shows that the "voluntary" measures ...

... trumpeted by the US and Canada, aren't as effective as Bush and Martin/Harper had claimed!