15 Mar 2003 Hans Blix Worries… About Global Warming

DATE: March 15, 2003

BACKGROUND: In an interview with MTV dated March 13, U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said: “On big issues like war in Iraq, but in many other issues they simply must be multilateral. There’s no other way around. You have the instances like the global warming convention, the Kyoto protocol, when the U.S. went its own way. I regret it. To me the question of the environment is more ominous than that of peace and war. We will have regional conflicts and use of force, but world conflicts I do not believe will happen any longer. But the environment, that is a creeping danger. I’m more worried about global warming than I am of any major military conflict.”1

TEN SECOND RESPONSE: It is not comforting to know that the man in charge of finding weapons of mass destruction in the hands of Saddam Hussein is actually spending his time talking to MTV.

THIRTY SECOND RESPONSE: The U.N.’s global warming predictions have been as heavily politicized2 as they are publicized. The Kyoto Treaty would harm the U.S. economy far more than the European Union’s.3 Perhaps that’s really why France and Germany like it.

DISCUSSION: Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder know perfectly well that continuing arms inspections of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq will not result in Saddam’s disarmament. They pretend otherwise out of self-interest.

Given this fact, it is prudent for Americans to take a second look at any policy these governments are urging upon us.

Two relevant facts stand out about the Kyoto global warming treaty: 1) if the U.S. were to ratify it, it would be easier for France and Germany to compete economically with the United States; 2) even if the global warming theory is true, it is universally acknowledged that the Kyoto Treaty would have little impact on any global warming.4

So why does Hans Blix worry about the Kyoto Treaty when he’s supposed to be containing Saddam Hussein? Perhaps in his heart of hearts, the country he’s really trying to contain is the United States.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Transcript of interview of Hans Blix by MTV’s John Norris at http://www.mtv.com/bands/i/iraq/news_feature_031203/index5.jhtml

Patrick Michaels, “Europe’s Kyoto Scam,” Cato Institute, May 10, 2001 at http://www.cato.org/dailys/05-10-01.html

Testimony on climate change by Professor Patrick J. Michaels, Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies, Cato Institute, before the U.S. House of Representatives, at http://www.cato.org/testimony/ct-pm072998.html

Testimony on climate change by Professor S. Fred Singer, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project, before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation at https://nationalcenter.org/KyotoSingerTestimony2000.html

“Questions and Answers on Global Warming,” National Center for Public Policy Research, available at https://nationalcenter.org/KyotoQuestionsAnswers.html

by Amy Ridenour, President
The National Center for Public Policy Research

Contact the author at: 202-507-6398 or [email protected]
The National Center for Public Policy Research
777 N. Capitol St. NE Suite 803
Washington, D.C. 20001

Footnotes:

1 Transcript of interview of Hans Blix by MTV’s John Norris, dated March 13, 2003. Available online at http://www.mtv.com/bands/i/iraq/news_feature_031203/index5.jhtml as of March 14, 2003.

2 Many sources are available to document the politicization of the U.N.’s global warming reports. Two such are: “New UN Global Warming Report is not New – Predictions Derived from Extreme Worst-case ‘Future Scenarios,'” Dr. Kenneth Green, Reason Public Policy Institute, January 23, 2001, available online at http://www.rppi.org/0123a01.html as of March 14, 2003; and “UN Report Blasted By One of its Own Authors,” Paul Georgia, Competititve Enterprise Institute, May 14, 2001, available online at http://www.cei.org/utils/printer.cfm?AID=2053 as of March 14, 2003.

3 See “Europe’s Kyoto Scam,” Cato Institute, May 10, 2001, by Cato Institute Senior Fellow Patrick J. Michaels, who writes, “Kyoto would help wreck the economic engine that drives America forward while Europe lags behind. The persistent and significant differences between American and European gross economic production and unemployment are not accidents. Europe’s leaders know Kyoto would ‘fix’ that.” The publication was available at http://www.cato.org/dailys/05-10-01.html as of March 14, 2001.

4 This is little-known outside of global warming circles but not an especially controversial thesis. Since as much as 60% of all carbon emissions will come from nations excempt from Kyoto’s restrictions, the treaty will fail to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions. Further, it is not clear that the planet would cool even if overall human emissions of greenhouse gases were reduced as a result of Kyoto. Four hundred and forty million years ago, atmospheric concentrations of CO2 were up to ten times current levels. Yet, geologic evidence suggests that the planet was five to ten degrees Celsius cooler than today.