The Kyoto Crowd, Exposed

Carlo Stagnaro, the European columnist for TechCentralStation.com, just nails the EUnuchs that were left behind on the whole Kyoto/global warming business by the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate put together by none other than that environmental public enemy #1, George W. Bush:

Why so many attacks on the US-led initiative? First for a reason of political pride: it is a US-led initiative, after all. European countries have been playing green politics for years, and now they can't admit Washington has succeeded in creating what might turn out to be the only viable, truly global effort to address global warming. Similarly radical environmentalists have deemed President Bush as Environmental Enemy No. 1: how can they admit without losing face that he's gone beyond Kyoto and he's doing more than the EU champions?

Then there's an ideological reason. Many members of the environmental club, as well as European political elites, see climate policies as mere means to achieve political control over society. It is no surprise then that they tend to prefer command & control over voluntary agreements, and legally binding mandates over innovation - which by definition can't be centrally planned.

Finally there is an economic reason. Under a Kyoto-style treaty bureaucracy enjoys the power to pick winners and losers between countries, industries, and individual firms. When you get to a voluntary, science-based, R&D-oriented program that very power is much smaller or even zero - and the winning countries, industries, and firms lose their ability to seek favors.

The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate has already achieved one important goal: it has exposed what the Kyoto crowd really wants. [emphases added]

Rush Limbaugh couldn't have stripped the "environmentalist wackos" any better.