After adopting the Kyoto Protocol in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, it was assumed that each national representative would return its respective legislative body and advocate for the ratification the terms of the Protocol. Over the next seven years, 184 nations ratified the terms and the Kyoto Protocol was entered into force in 2005. However, the United States, a leader in international governance and the wealthiest nation in the world, has yet to ratify the terms of the Kyoto Protocol. Because the United States is a leader in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, many nations look to the US before determining their own vote. Unfortunately, environmental global governance and particularly climate change is a highly politicized issue in the US Congress. The article below from the Los Angeles Time shows Congress finally taking action on this issue to give the United States some credibility at the Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen.
Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times: Meeting of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee in Washington, which Republicans boycotted.
Senate Committee Approves Climate Change Bill
Tags: Climate Change Bill, United States Congress, United States Senate
