Green is Good; March 1999; Scientific American Magazine; by Nemecek; 2 Page(s)

For the past year, the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty addressing climate change, has been just a guest star on the world's political stage, capturing momentary attention but then quickly fading into the backdrop. The reason: the protocol will not become a permanent fixture until 55 countries ratify it. To date, only three countries, Antigua and Barbuda, Fiji, and Tuvalu, have done so. Yet as the Kyoto Protocol waits in the wings, some unexpected supporting characters-major corporations-have emerged as advocates for the environment.

The Kyoto Protocol, negotiated in December 1997, set targets for developed countries to reduce their emissions of the greenhouse gases most scientists believe have contributed to increases in average global temperature over the past century. Last November, at a meeting in Buenos Aires, negotiators of the original treaty reunited to specify how and when these reductions will take place. And as the sessions concluded, the U.S. signed the Kyoto Protocol amid much fanfare. But it was largely a ceremonial act, because the U.S. is not bound by the treaty unless the Senate ratifies it. Opposition to the treaty is so strong that the Clinton administration will not be sending it to Capitol Hill for a vote anytime soon.