Or so says this article which actually does a pretty good job of outlining what a boneheaded move it was for Bush to stay out of the Kyoto Protocol, which was finally launched today. So while many of the top nations of the world are joining forces to help save the environment from a complete disaster in the future, the US is sitting on the sidelines saying it's just too darned tough and expensive to do. Yes, I guess when you are the biggest contributor to the world's pollution you wouldn't exactly be in a hurry to take all the drastic measures necessary to help fix the problem.

I mean, I get that it's going to be a tough thing to do... sacrifices and compromises will have to be made and belts will have to be tightened... but is the future of our planet not worth it? Can we not stop being consumers for just one second and instead be citizens of a planet in trouble? Let's face it.. the world can't keep going on like this and at *some* point we have to recognize that hard changes are going to have to be made. We aren't going to like it, and it will be rough at first... but what choice do we really have? We made this mess and we have to clean it up. Besides... we're not asking that you stop all emissions.... we're asking for a 7% reduction. Is that really so much to ask? Heck, your good buddy Tony Blair even asked you to do it... and he stood up for you when you asked him to do something really tough!

So why didn't Australia join? Coz they said they wouldn't unless the USA joined. I'm sorry, but that's the lamest excuse I have ever heard. That sounds like a diva who won't sign on to do a film unless another big name is attached to it. Don't you suppose that if YOU signed up maybe you could help sway Bush to do the same? Don't wait until someone else makes the move first... make the first move yourself, even if it means makes some hard changes.

Oh and by not joining Bush is making things that much more difficult for his country's biggest trading partner... Canada. "The US is Canada's major trading partner (and vice versa), so with Canadian companies having to pay for emissions, and US companies not, the fear is that Canadian companies will not be able to compete on a fair trading ground. In one example a company can sell natural gas to the US to be burned in an electrical plant to produce electricity. That gas, burned in the US, is not subject to "Kyoto tax". However if that same plant were operated in Canada, the gas would be taxed as it was burned. That would result in the same electricity costing more if produced locally."

To those who would say that global warming just isn't happening.... have you not noticed that the world is experiencing some rather bizarre and disastrous events? It's time to do something, now, before it's too late. And yes, everybody needs to chip in and stop making excuses as to why they should excluded.