Student organization cele-brates Kyoto Protocol

// news / daily - february 16, 2005

http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=16160&repository=0001_article
written by François Jean-Baptiste

To commemorate the taking effect of the Kyoto Protocol, completed exactly six years and 11 months today, Students for a Sustainable Stanford will turn White Plaza into a forum on global warming and related issues from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“The [Kyoto Protocol] is the first binding international regulation of greenhouse gas emissions in history,” said freshman Seth Silverman, member of the student organization, adding that the agreement requires nations that signed to cut greenhouse gas emissions between 2008 and 2012 by at least five percent.

Silverman also said this commitment period will be followed by subsequent commitments, and more stringent emission reduction standards — all of which the United States is exempt from.

“Many thought that the Kyoto Protocol was dead, especially after George W. Bush became president and said that the United States would stop negotiating in the Kyoto agreement,” Silverman said. “[To survive] the protocol needed 55 ratifying nations responsible for at least 55 percent of the world’s emissions.”

The Protocol was revived on Nov. 18, 2004, when it was ratified by Russia.

Members of Students for a Sustainable Stanford said they hope to educate students on what they can do individually to lower greenhouse gas emissions and to discuss the position of the United States on these issues within the international community.

“We hope to show a visual depiction of how much the United States contributes to international greenhouse gases and how detrimental these gases are to the environment,” said sophomore Becca Miller, co-organizer of the event. “There are about 30 students actively involved in Students for a Sustainable Stanford, [but] we hope that many, many more will take a moment to stop and look at our display.”

Sophomore Emma Yuen, a leader of Students for a Sustainable Stanford, said that it is especially important for students to understand the fundamentals of global warming since the University plays a key role in national climate change research.

“Many faculty members and students are working to reduce carbon emissions in all different disciplines with new technologies, regulations, conservation measures and even new philosophies about human responsibilities when we change the living conditions on earth,” Yuen said.

She added that the United States, “with only four percent of the world’s population, is responsible for 30 percent of historic carbon dioxide emissions, which makes it both the largest per capita emitter and the largest overall greenhouse gas emitter in history and in the world today.”

Yuen said she believes the United States will face consequences in the future for not participating in the Kyoto Protocol.

“The [protocol] is not perfect, but refusing to adopt significant measures that reduce global warming will foster ill will from [participating] countries,” she said. “If America does not work to reduce climate change, we risk the health of our country, the world and our future.”