The NYT had a piece this morning reporting on how Europe is heavily dependent on coal, despite its "green image." While the article had much useful information, it never mentioned the fact that Europe emits approximately 50 percent as much greenhouse gas per capita as the United States. In the numerate world, this is an important piece of information.
At one point the article discusses how much Europe will have to reduce its emissions if it is to compensate for growing emissions in China and India "to say nothing of the United States." As far as I know, none of the people running European countries are morons, nor are the environmentalists who promoted the Kyoto agreement. If China, India, and the United States do nothing to contain their emissions of greenhouse gases, then whatever Europe does or does not do will be completely irrelevant. There would be absolutely no point in Europe absorbing substantial economic costs in a futile attempt to stop global warming.
The proponents of the Kyoto agreement assume that at some point China, India, and the United States can be persuaded/coerced to reign in their emissions. If this does not happen, few, if any, will insist that Europe continue to try to reduce emissions even when they know it cannot have any qualitative impact on global warming.
--Dean Baker
