Well, with the much anticipated (by some) publication of the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (whew!) the debate may finally shift, possibly, to more sensible ground.

The report apparently proves this this current round of GW is human-caused. Well, good. The assembled multitude of scientific types put the chances of GW being human-caused at over 90%. (This led to some amusing crowing amongst the "winners", with some sounding like they were members of a team that had just won the Super Bowl or World Cup. Well, I suppose that scientists are competitive, also.)

What also should now be put to rest is the notion that the Kyoto agreement is some sort of solution to the problem. Nothing surprising there. The Kyoto-exempt China and India continue to pour increasing amounts of pollutants into the air, and the majority of Kyoto countries have failed to meet their targets. Since, the publication is clear that not much can be done in the short term to prevent GW complications in the 21st century, it by default makes Kyoto out to be a big fat waste of time and money, money that would be better spent on technological advancement in renewable power and climate adaptation.

(Of course, the Kyoto fans won't give up that easily. Kyoto holds considerable hope for becoming a sort of worldwide taxation system with the potential to subjugate national interests to a world governmental agency. Just this morning, I note that Lame Duck President Chirac, who still thinks he is the King of the European Union, has stated that the EU could subject uncooperative nations to some sort of "carbon tax". Right. Not only will Sarkozy be unlikely to support such a measure after he takes office, quashing French support for such a thing will take no more than a small tax per bottle on French wine imported to the US.)

Make no mistake about it: when histories are written, the decade-plus gap between scientific recognition of GW and the development of effective countermeasures will be blamed on the politicians who colluded to create such a flawed, anti-free market treaty like Kyoto. It ought have been clear to a child that such a "solution" would be rejected by the free-market (and heavy polluting) Americans, thus insuring that years would pass before progress on the GW matter would actually be made.

So, where does that leave us? Right where we have been for a decade. The solutions lie in technology and free market countermeasures. People always act in their own economic best interests, and those that act as if that axiom is NOT true are doomed to spawn failed policies again and again.