Being generally a Francophile, I do not like when the French fall down on their self-anointed job, e.g. keeping the peace in Africa.  Still, I do hope that this idea of M. de Villepin goes places.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

If the European's want to waste their resources and damage their economies trying to implement Kyoto, I guess that would be their own business. Even if fully implemented, Kyoto's effect on predicted future global warming would be negligible. Why should the United States engage in very expensive symbolism just because the Europeans do?

C. B. Richardson Jr. Houston, Texas

France ups their food standards again, and sticks it to the man!

Sadly...global warming is hurting most those who have the least to do with it - farmers in impoverished countries. More desertification, lower yields, longer and more frequent droughts. If these things happened on a person-to-person level, we'd be charged with abuse or neglect, or worse. That our country hides behind the spin and the politics is shameful, and we'll get ours someday.

If another country erects trade barriers against our exports, we should retaliate immediately and do so without equivocation. To do otherwise would encourage other countries to erect their own trade barriers. Every country would probably prefer to protect its own manufacturing from foreign competition. What keeps them from doing it is the prospect of foreign competitors doing the same.

The United States represents a huge market for foreign exporters. I doubt if they would want to disturb that. Hopefully, no country would be willing to start a trade war over something as inane as the Kyoto Protocol.  


C. B. Richardson Jr. Houston, Texas

Longer growing seasons and less frost would tend to increase production and allow certain crops to be grown further to the North. And higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide would tend to benefit crop yields. I doubt that anyone involved with agriculture would long for the climate that we had during the Little Ice Age.

Local climate fluctuations can adversely impact certain areas while being a boon to other areas. Our own "Dust Bowl" in the 1930's would be a good example. Droughts have always been with us. There is no evidence that I am aware of that we are having longer and more frequent droughts when compared to a longer span of time. The desertification in some areas started long before anthropogenic global warming could have been a cause.

I do agree with you about the spin and the politics. It exists on all sides of the anthropogenic global warming debate. I have Google send me links to new articles that contain "Global Warming." It seems like everything including obesity and athletes feet have now been linked to global warming. I am suffering from "hysteria overload." :)

C. B. Richardson Jr. Houston, Texas