Advocates point out that the end result would be cleaner air. While that may be true, opponents of a CAFE standard of 45 mpg note that a very small and light car would be needed to meet the higher standard and that such a vehicle is not as safe as the larger cars on the road today. Even so, some are not convinced that there is a threat, especially in light of new reports that the upper air temperature has not changed in the past 20 years, and the fluctuations we are seeing may be within the normal range. Needless to say, differences exist over the urgency of addressing the issue and who should bear the burden. Many believe we need to increase global energy efficiency now to ward off potentially catastrophic events.
Opponents say that more scientific evidence is necessary.
However, few countries came close to meeting the nonbinding goals. In fact, U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases have gone up since 1992, not down. At the following round of international climate negotiations in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997, the world's leaders agreed on the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty stipulating that 38 of the world's most industrialized countries must reduce greenhouse gases by 5.2 percent between 2008 and 2012, measuring from a 1990 baseline. Each country must show some progress toward reaching the goal by 2005. The world's leaders met again in Buenos Aires, Argentina in November 1998, to reach agreement on how to implement the Kyoto Protocol.