Russia Says No to Climate Controls

June 23, 7:33 AMLA Ecopolitics ExaminerPAUL TAYLOR

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As China announced just days ago, Russia has confirmed that it will not participate in any international greenhouse gas reduction plans advanced to replace the 2012 expiration of the Kyoto Protocol. Moreover, Russia actually plans to increase air pollution emissions. Russian President Medvedev has announced that Russia will increase the country’s emissions 30% by 2020. Russia is the third biggest global air polluter – China first, US second.

Russia estimates the 30 percent increase in emissions would put his country 10 to 15 percent behind its 1990 emissions levels. This, based upon the decades of conversion from polluting heavy industry to cleaner industries in the digital age. Many of the former communist block countries may now make the same industrial conversion offset claim to avoid the costs of carbon controls. Like China, Russia recognizes that mandatory reductions in greenhouse gases will reduce GDP and punish long-term economic prosperity.

The rejection by China and Russia of international initiatives to control global warming will reduce the likelihood that Obama’s cap-and-trade carbon taxes will be adopted. Without controls on all global greenhouse gas emitters, nothing the US does in the way of costly greenhouse gas reductions will impact climates.