Wide Margin

Lest we forget, the goal set by the Kyoto Protocol is a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by industrialized countries of 5.2% from 1990 levels. According to the World Bank's Little Green Data Book 2007, actual worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide, the leading manmade greenhouse gas, have increased by 19% above 1990 levels, as of 2003. While emissions from China and India are rising sharply, the wealthy countries still account for half the total greenhouse budget. A whopping 22 percent of worldwide emissions came from the United States, which failed to ratify Kyoto. The world's leading producer of greenhouse gases, the US also has, far and away, the highest per capita carbon dioxide emissions of any major nation. Just something to keep in mind as we head into the G-8 meeting in Germany next week.