Many of the world's leading scientists believe that increased emissions of carbon dioxide since the industrial revolution have led to increased global temperatures and if left unchecked, they threaten to wreak havoc on Earth. World leaders at a summit in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997, agreed to curb global emissions of greenhouse gasses, including carbon dioxide, by an average of 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-2012. The United States agreed to a seven percent cut. While the United States has signed the Kyoto Protocol, the Senate refuses to ratify the treaty out of a fear that doing so will irreparably harm the economy of the country. Efficient vehicles not only use less energy, they are cleaner for the environment.
Environmentalists beg to differ.
The most recent volley in the debate over how the treaty will not harm the economy comes from World Wildlife Fund and the Tellus Institute. The results come from a mix of policies designed to drive innovation in energy resources and technology, including incentives for efficient vehicles and equipment, elimination of regulatory impediments and new efficiency standards for buildings, cars and other gear. As well, every state in the country would benefit in new jobs, even those states that are likely to experience job losses in sectors such as old, coal-fired power plants. But when you look at state levels, even states that had large sectors of the energy industries in them, they had overall positive change in jobs.