LETTERS: BUSH WAS RIGHT TO WITHDRAW U.S. FROM KYOTO TREATY

To the editor:

President Bush has made headlines recently for rejecting any U.S. role in what has been known as the Kyoto Treaty to limit greenhouse-gas emissions. Bush was absolutely right to heed the clear message from the U.S. Senate's 96-0 vote to block the United States from being a party to this international agreement.

What we call greenhouse gases are primarily water vapor, with only about 3 percent being carbon dioxide. Of that 3 percent, only a fraction derives from man-made sources and can be subject to control. Our economy should not be wrecked without knowing that the small percentage of change would help the environment.

Had this environmental policy been allowed to proceed, the effects on Missouri would have been dramatic. According to the Wharton Econometrics Forecasting Association, by 2010 Missourians living under the Kyoto Treaty would have been paying 65 cents more for a gallon of gasoline, 80.6 percent more for household electricity and 78.3 percent more for household natural gas. Meanwhile, Missouri would have incurred a loss of nearly 48,700 jobs.

The current version of the Kyoto Treaty would do nothing to reduce greenhouse gases, instead merely shifting where this pollution would occur. I am glad Bush rose above the rhetoric and made the decision to withdraw the United States, averting the economic disaster that would have been reaped upon our state and nation.

NORB PLASSMEYER

Vice President and Director

of Environmental Affairs

Associated Industries

of Missouri

Jefferson City, Mo.