For the reason that it is a natural byproduct, carbon dioxide reductions are not easily achieved through technological advances such as those that have so dramatically reduced smog emission. Any effort to reduce carbon dioxide will require drastically decreasing energy consumption. And that's the rub. During the past 40 years, a period when man-made carbon dioxide emission increased significantly, satellite measurements of global temperature show little if any increase despite reports to the contrary. Currently, there is no scientific consensus regarding global warming.
Respected scientists fall on both sides of the debate.
Though Clinton administration officials denied they would break with a past policy of supporting only voluntary restrictions to meet emission targets, U.S. Undersecretary of State Timothy Wirth abandoned that policy at a July 1996 Geneva meeting of world leaders. We believe that circumstances warrant the adoption of realistic but binding targets. The binding nature of the agreement would be particularly costly and burdensome for American business, asserts the Center for the Study of American Business. Domestic job losses would average 1.1 million a year over 15 years. That figure has stunned businesses and workers alike.