Welcome to Cato Daily Podcast

Daily Podcast. This is Anastasia Yuglova Friday June 8th.

G8 leaders have agreed to make substantial cuts in carbon emissions, a deal that as yet has no substance.

Although the compromise has no binding effect at this point, everyone seems hopeful about the deal.

But Cato's Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies,

Pat Michaels, is a bit less than wine.

He'll explain why in this podcast.

The President has just announced plans at the G8 meeting for a new international agreement to limit CO2 emissions.

What are the details of that deal?

The details are that the EU, Canada, and Japan have agreed to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide

to 50% below 1990 levels by 2050.

That's only 43 years away.

The United States has agreed to specify some unspecified target

at some date in the future.

What does all this mean?

It proves the incredible cheapness of talk.

I'm getting the sense here that you don't think the agreement holds any water.

It's not going to hold any water and it's not going to make any rain.

What we're saying here to a world that could not meet the Kyoto Protocol,

which required emissions to go 5% below 1990 levels. We're saying, oh now we're going to reduce them to 50% below

1990 levels. Well, the Kyoto Protocol has been enforced for 10 years and

worldwide emissions went up about 25%. Do you really think

...