Jan+27th+-+Gov't

**Is there a government or region that seems to be "ahead of the curve" with respect to sustainability initiatives?**
 * There have been several international summits organized to address climate change-Stockholm in '72, Rio in '92 & Kyoto in '97. **
 * What was the goal of Kyoto? How was it different from earlier summits? Why did the protocol take so long to come into effect? **
 * How has it been working - are targets being reached? Is there anything begin planned to replace Kyoto? **

The goal of the Kyoto Protocol was to lower emissions of gases that contribute to global warming. The goal at Kyoto was to establish a legal international agreement to commit themselves to the issue of global warming and greenhouse emissions. Th ( **The following was taken from an executive summary**)There are three ways to reduce energy-related carbon emissions: reducing the demand for energy services, adopting more energy-efficient equipment, and switching to less carbon-intensive or noncarbon fuels. To reduce emissions, a carbon price is applied to the cost of energy. The carbon price is applied to each of the energy fuels relative to its carbon content at its point of consumption. Electricity does not directly receive a carbon fee; however, the fossil fuels used for generation receive the fee, and this cost, as well as the increased cost of investment in generation plants, is reflected in the delivered price of electricity. In practice, these carbon prices could be imposed through a carbon emissions permit system. In this analysis, the carbon prices represent the marginal cost of reducing carbon emissions to the specified level, reflecting the price the United States would be willing to pay in order to purchase carbon permits from other countries or to induce carbon reductions in other countries. **  ﻿ So the Americans can sort of buy their way out of making some kind of carbon emission reduction, which fits accord okay but affects us as we border them. Is this truly a commitment from them????? **