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opinion:
U.S. should ratify
Kyoto treaty
Sometimes, I cannot
understand U.S. policies at all; rather, I think they are selfish.
Of course, I like
America and its people. This is mainly why I came here. The
country is beautiful, everything is big, and many things such
as technology and civil rights are more advanced than in other
countries.
Many races are
here, thus various cultures co-exist, and I can meet people
whom I would not meet if I were in Japan. This is one of the
many reasons I like living in America.
However, one thing
that the Bush administration has decided this year made me
angry. That is the rejection of the Kyoto treaty, which calls
for sharp reduction in the emissions of greenhouse gases like
carbon dioxide by 2012.
The United States,
Europe and Japan adopted the Kyoto treaty in 1997. In the
treaty, they agreed to reduce greenhouse gases by 2012: the
United States was to reduce eight percent, Europe seven percent
and Japan six percent of the gases from its emission amounts
of 1990.
My Asian studies
teacher once said in class that there are three human-made
things that are visible from space. One is the Great Pyramid
in Egypt, another is the Great Wall in China, and the other
is smog in Los Angeles.
Despite the fact
that America is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse
gases, the Bush administration withdrew from the treaty because
it may have a bad influence on the U.S. economy, which is
slowing down. This is selfish and irresponsible.
Such things as
air pollution and global warming are not only America's problem.
They expand and affect other countries in the world. The United
States should take more responsibility for reducing the emissions
of greenhouse gases since it emits more greenhouse gases.
Sooner or later,
the U.S. economy will go bad. No country can maintain an economy
as good as America's current one because economies have a
cycle of prosperity and recession.
The United States
seems to lose sight that it shares the Earth with other countries
once in a while. Global warming is a big issue, and many people
around the world as well as in the nation care about it. America
should cooperate with Europe and Japan on the Kyoto treaty
even if that may be against its interests.
Akira Hayakawa
is a print journalism major at Cal State Long Beach.
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