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TODAY Thursday 11 December 1997 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site.

 

TODAY IN THE WORLD: Help Wanted: Unreasonable Extremists

As an environmentalist, I was surprised and gratified with the outcome of the Kyoto negotiations as reported by Bill McKibben. As a political animal, I'm eager for the coming dustup ("Oh Boy! A Fight!"). As someone who can count, I'm scared to death of our chances. John Kerry, the Senator from Massachusetts, may be guilty of some Gore-grudge, but he's a bona-fide enviro, and it's hard to disagree when he says "What we have here is not ratifiable in the Senate." The affable and appalling Senator from Alaska, Frank Murkowski, could barely disguise his delight this morning at the prospect of bashing the Kyoto protocol as a form of economic suicide and unilateral disarmament. Oy.

The problem lies not so much with the surprisingly deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions that the US says it will undertake (computers will have to hum overtime to integrate all the loopholes and setoffs into credible econometric simulations), but with the unwillingness of the Asian would-be Great Powers -- China, India, Indonesia -- to subscribe to a semantic formula that would lend the Clinton Administration sufficient cover to say that it had procured the "meaningful commitment" of all countries, rich and poor alike. The White House knows it has a problem on this score, and we can expect a flurry of diplomatic activity in the coming months on the part of the US, the EU, and Japan. The objective: a big early-1998 press conference in an Asian capital, at which high representatives of the governments of the major developing countries announce their voluntary adhesion to the Kyoto standards as amended by a series of parallel "understandings" regarding technology transfer, development assistance, forest credits, etc.

In the meantime, it would be terrifically helpful if a lot of enviros would act absolutely outraged. Greenpeace calling the Kyoto deal "a farce" is an excellent start. The World Wildlife Fund should add a little rage and hyperbole to its characterization of the text as "a flawed agreement that will allow major polluters to continue emitting greenhouse gases." It's OK -- it's necessary -- for Fred Krupp of the Environmental Defense Fund and John Adams of the Natural Resources Defense Council and Phil Clapp of the National Environmental Trust to rally 'round the Clinton flag right now, but let's not forget to call attention to our colleagues who will talk of betrayal and selling out future generations and abject surrender to the tyrants of the global economy. We need those folks more than ever, because ratification of Kyoto will take place only if the Administration can successfully conduct a public campaign wherein it persuades an operable political majority that it represents moderation, progress, and technological optimism. And you can't appear moderate unless there are some loud people appearing radical.

Public opinion surveys show that the environmental movement has lost some credibility over the past few years. But we still have much more credibility than the oil and coal companies. The other side is vulnerable, because everybody knows their motivation. If the Chinese cooperate, if the greener-than-green enviros play their allotted roles, and if the rest of us work at this harder and better than we've worked on anything before, well, it could be a lot of fun.

 

TODAY ON THE SITE

Tom Turner rains on the parade of big money California coalitions using the vehicle of full-page newspaper ads to push happy-face environmentalism. You know it don't come easy, suggests the lord of In Other News..."

 

Recent "Today" columns:

12/10: Oh Boy! A Fight!
12/9: Running Away From It All
12/8: "What I Wouldn't Give for This War to End."
12/5: Feisty Euros at Kyoto
12/4: Beauty in the Bronx
12/3: God from Machine
12/2: Gentlemen's Bet
12/1: Public Opinion
11/26: Sperm
11/25: Sound Sound-Bite Science
11/24: Home Sweet Storage Locker
11/21: Tim Wirth's Inscrutable Adventure
11/20: Better to Receive than to Give
11/19: Wes Jackson's Problem with Agriculture
11/18: "Stay Home and Be Decent"

To access more "Today" columns, click "Archives" below.