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Well, quite technically, Kyoto isn't bad for any nation until the prescribe number of nations ratify it to make it law (which, for Kyoto, is both a flat # of nations as well as a threshold % of GHG emissions). And, if Kyoto goes through without US ratifications that means it will apply to everyone who signs on BUT NOT the US. That's how international law works - except for the customary law of nations (those things so old and ingrained we assume every nation must follow them) a nation is only bound by what it agrees to be bound by. In fact, many many nations fear an in-force Kyoto treaty that the US has not ratified - as it leaves the biggest do-badder (on the GHG issue) out running amuck amuck amuck amuck. [img]tongue.gif[/img]
As for the current state of the economy, it is not relevant to our discussion of how environmental laws impact the economy. There have been no real environmental laws enacted since the early 1990s, when the Clean Air Act Amendments and the Superfund Amendement and Reauthorization Act (also called the "superfund attorney's retirement act" by those of us in the biz) came down. Moreover, environmental laws have consistently been less-and-less prosecuted since the early 1990s, and now are at a standstill. It's called "power of the pocketbook." Believe me, no matter how stringent the EPA's mandate is to clean up the environment, when the administration and congress pull the $$$, nothing gets done. And, since this administration came in (please this is not a slam on anyone and I just want to state a fact), the EPA's budget has gone down. As proof, the NYTimes just last week reported that the EPA was whinning because it didn't have the $$ to pursue superfund cases.
I think that you and I would agree the science of climate change is rather sketch at best - with that leading us to possibly different conclusions as to a course of action. So, while I think that while PEW is quite interesting, you might do yourself a better favor by checking into the economic impact of enviro laws. It's a tough topic to research, but it's also one that just might surprise you.
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