Mark MacKinnon reports in the Globe and Mail that Russian stalling could kill Kyoto consensus:
Russia has delayed ratification of the international Kyoto Protocol on climate change, and two of its top scientists have begun to question the science underpinning it, developments that environmentalists say could kill the painstakingly crafted deal.No, it's not amazing that they discovered the whole thing was a mare's nest. It's amazing that they would turn down the cash they stood to make off the "true believers":
Most scientists worldwide believe that signing the accord could prove greatly beneficial to the Russian economy, since the collapse of industry at the end of the Soviet era means Russia has already met its target of reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2010. Russia will likely be well below those levels, meaning it could make billions of dollars selling emission "credits" to countries that exceed their allotted amounts.Of course, without the USA falling for the con, the profit potential was substantially reduced.
