Global Climate Change

The document assesses the role of the United States in the global effort to combat climate change following the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. It argues that the U.S. has failed to lead, contributing to 27% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions while resisting binding domestic action. The authors highlight critical loopholes in the Kyoto Protocol, such as the use of surplus emissions allowances from former socialist economies and ambiguous forest activity definitions. To ensure the treaty's success, the brief recommends that the U.S. implement mandatory domestic programs, defer demands for immediate binding commitments from developing countries, and support the Global Environment Facility.

• Industrialized nations are primarily responsible for the human-caused increase in greenhouse gases, with the United States accounting for 27% of annual global emissions.
• The United States has failed to meet its 1992 UN Framework Convention commitment to return to 1990 emission levels by the year 2000, and its greenhouse gas emissions rose by approximately 8% between 1992 and the time of writing.
• The Kyoto Protocol contains significant loopholes, including the ability for countries to purchase surplus emissions allowances from former socialist economies and a lack of standardized definitions for how forest activities are calculated in net emissions.
• The U.S. Senate's Byrd-Hagel Resolution creates a diplomatic impasse by conditioning treaty ratification on new scheduled emission commitments from developing countries, a demand the authors describe as a "nonstarter".
• The authors recommend that the U.S. adopt a model similar to the Montreal Protocol by deferring binding reductions for developing countries until the U.S. demonstrates a downward trend in its own emissions.

APA

Goldberg, D., & Porter, S. (1998). Global Climate Change. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Global_CC_May1998.pdf

Chicago

Goldberg, Donald, and Stephen Porter. Global Climate Change. Center for International Environmental Law, 1998. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Global_CC_May1998.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Goldberg |first1=Donald |last2=Porter |first2=Stephen |title=Global Climate Change |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=May 1998 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Global_CC_May1998.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{goldberg1998global, author = {Goldberg, Donald and Porter, Stephen}, title = {{Global Climate Change}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {1998}, month = may, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Global_CC_May1998.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }