Delegates from the Unites States and other nations will soon gather in Copenhagen to work on a successor treaty to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, whose provisions expire in 2012. Many proponents of the Kyoto Protocol had hoped that the Copenhagen conference would conclude with a major new agreement containing stringent, binding, and enforceable post-2012 targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the decades ahead. Supporters of such a deal also expressed optimism that President Obama would get America to join in this new agreement.
But reality is intruding. The Kyoto Protocol approach has proven to be far from a success that deserves to be extended. The rifts between the developing world and developed world have not been narrowed. Domestic global warming legislation has bogged down in the Senate. And the prohibitive costs of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel use – and at a time that doubts about the seriousness of global warming continue to grow – raise fundamental questions about the wisdom of any agreement that comes out of this conference, especially for the United States.
Join us as our panelists discuss the many issues facing the attendees at the Copenhagen conference.
More About the Speakers
Featuring:
Harlan Watson
Distinguished Professional Staff,
House Select Committee on Global Warming
Iain Murray
Vice President for Strategy,
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Sallie James
Trade Policy Analyst,
Cato Institute
Steven Groves
Bernard and Barbara Lomas Fellow,
The Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom,
The Heritage Foundation
Hosted By
Ben Lieberman
Senior Policy Analyst, Energy and Environment
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