FIRES are raging through tinderbox forests in America’s western states,
spilling greenhouse gases into the air. The US wants to use such forests as
valuable carbon sinks—mopping up carbon dioxide and allowing cars and
factories to continue their profligate use of fossil fuels.
Scientists say the charred US woodlands help to illustrate why the Kyoto
Protocol, the cornerstone of worldwide efforts to curb global warming, is
fatally flawed. While governments prepare to finalise the treaty in the Hague in
November, a report published this week by an independent international think
tank warns that the deal will be impossible to…
