"In terms of the effectiveness of the Kyoto protocol, the U.S. participation is crucial."-- Yasuko Ishii, Japanese environment ministry
"We'll be working with our allies to reduce greenhouse gases. But I will not accept a plan that will harm our economy and hurt American workers." -- U.S. President George W. Bush
Late again I know but eish guys things they are tense here at the work, this week they were laying off a few peeps even blacks, cos there are a few of us not gainfully employed here, so boss I had to put on a show and a half, but whew I made the cut J

Happy Spring Day to you all. I hope you guys had proper spring days, unlike the overcast chilly days we experienced here in the Cape. But hey I complain not I enjoy the rain. I can think of a few places in the world that are not loving the rain at the moment, Louisiana, New Orleans, places in Europe I think. Can’t help but feel sorry for those people that have been left destitute, thanks to hurricane Katrina which swept through the United States this week….Coincidence or freak occurance?? Mmmm I think not! Just like the increasing reports of cancer.

I spoke about the greenhouse effects a few Monday mails ago and yes I am not a climatologist or meteorologist, but I cant help but think the frequency and severity of these natural disasters has a lot to do with what we are doing to the earth. And as bad as it sounds I feel that the frequency of the ‘natural attacks’ on the United States has a lot to do with them rejecting the Kyoto agreement.

The Kyoto agreement, in a very summarised form, is a declaration signed by many of the world’s countries. The need for this agreement stemmed from the 1992 Earth Summit held in Rio during which concern was expressed about the effects of climate change, like the moving of agricultural zones, the melting polar ice caps and rising sea levels. The agreement was signed in 1997. It was an agreement calling for a world wide reduction in the emission of carbon based gasses by an average of 5.2% below 1990 levels by 2012. All the respective countries made individual undertakings to reduce their respective country’s emissions by x%. There were 178 countries involved including the EU, USA, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. There were fines imposed of $30 a ton if these targets were not met.

Surprise, surprise, the US, who emits about 30% of the world’s greenhouse gasses has decided to come up with its own alternative, which is 33% less than that agreed to in the Kyoto agreement. His reasoning being he doesn’t want to jeopardise the US economy or the livelihood of the American people (it is anticipated that $400bn and 4.9 million jobs would be lost as a result of adhering to the Kyoto agreement). Part of his reasoning for rejecting the agreement, which I find fair was the fact that the agreement exempted developing nations and large polluters such as India. But in saying that, I think imposing this agreement on developing nations would be extra taxing on their already fragile economies. In 1998 Bill Clinton signed the agreement, but he US senate had not ratified it and as a result George Bush could walk away from the agreement, which he seems to have done. His counterparts in Japan, Australia and Britain, have labelled Bush’s decision as almost unthinkable, the whole world believes global warming to be the biggest threat to humanity over the next 100 years, and for a large pollutant like the US to shun the agreement is, well I guess signing a death warrant for the human race. I know it sounds dramatic, but think about it, notice the weather patterns where you live.

As sad as it is, lets hope the events of this week fire a warning shot of sorts to the US President, but I wouldn’t hold my breath…

I started doing some research on our ex deputy president Mr J Z, and I just didn’t get around to writing the mail, but its coming. This week’s short, but that’s what u get when I write an email between Boots and All and Reunion and this morning ;-)

Birthdays
2nd Gavin bye
3rd JC
4th Alani

“Yes, it’s true: We can’t control the wind or the rain or the vagaries of the weather. But we can tack our sails so that we can steer the course we desire” - unknown

You all have a good weekend now you see…

Maximum respect!

Y