But Watson doesn't stop there. He accuses the United States of being primarily responsible for an impending climate catastrophe. While it is true that the U.S. is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, our economy is among the most energy-efficient in terms of output. We produce more goods and services per unit of greenhouse gas emission than all but a very few countries. Brazil and France come to mind.
Brazil relies on hydroelectric energy and France, nuclear fission.
Even so, our efficiency continues to increase. If the rest of the world achieved similar energy efficiency, global greenhouse gas emissions would be about 20 percent less than they are. But for Watson and the IPCC, desperate times require desperate measures. Negotiations at The Hague, which sought to bind countries to the Kyoto Protocol's emission targets, largely failed. So no go it was.