Ozone Day Anticipating a Foggy Future ?

September 16, Ozone Day, marked the anniversary of the pathbreaking Montreal Protocol which predated the Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997, by ten years.

191 countries signed on to the Montreal Protocol aimed at decreasing the levels of chemicals which deplete the earth’s ozone layer.

BBC News reported recently that according to NASA, the hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctica measuring 28.3 million square kilometers is the largest it has ever been. The report goes on to say that although the production of Chloro-Fluoro-Carbons, the most important man-made ozone depleting agents, has been curtailed under the protocol, the concentration of these gases in only now reaching its peak.

The Montreal Protocol cannot go it alone.

175 countries signed on to the Kyoto Protocol. The United States is not party to it, and China recently said that it values development over environmental preservation. The country seems to theoretically recognize the problems. Both countries produce the largest amount of toxic emissions in the world.

Why play the blame game ?

The fact is that it may time for the States to bite the bullet. The FT suggested that perhaps only a new American president can resuscitate the stalemated Doha rounds. Is that true of the Kyoto Protocol as well ?…………….