Chapter 7, Problem 13BS

There is strong evidence that Earth is getting warmer because of an intensified greenhouse effect resulting from increased CO₂ emissions from industry, vehicles, and the burning of forests. Global climate change could influence agriculture, melt polar ice, and flood coastal regions. In response to these threats, 192 parties have accepted the Kyoto Protocol, which calls for mandatory reductions of greenhouse gas emissions in 30 industrialized nations by 2012. The United States has signed but not ratified (put into effect) the agreement, instead proposing a more modest set of voluntary goals allowing businesses to decide whether they wish to participate and providing tax incentives to encourage them to do so. The reasons given for rejecting the agreement are that it might hurt the American) economy and that some less industrialized countries (such as India) are exempted from it, even though they produce a lot of pollution, Do you agree with this decision? In what ways might efforts to reduce greenhouse gases hurt the economy? How can those costs be weighed against the costs of global climate change? Should poorer nations carry an equal burden to reduce their emissions?