Bush works on pact that proves Kyoto accord lame

Via Power Line comes this article about how Bush's latest agreement among United States, China, India, Australia, Japan and South Korea halves emissions by the next century, while the Kyoto Accord left India and China out of the loop entirely, therefore making itself moot before it was even rejected.

The new pact (which they say doesn't replace Kyoto, but I suspect results will test this statement) allows for the trade of eco-friendly technologies, so that industries in China and India, in particular, might lower their emissions. They've also left it open for other countries to sign on to it in future, allowing the cleansing to flow outward.

So far, they have set no absolute numbers, but all have agreed to use the "the most economically efficient means possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," according to Australia's Environment Minister, Ian Campell.

Considering that the countries involved in this pact are roughly half the world's economy, energy use, population, and emissions (as the article points out), this is a very big deal.

I didn't see anything about this, when I woke up this morning, on ABC's "GMA", NBC's "Today", or last night on "Nightline", even though Robert Zoellick unveiled the plan yesterday. Why hasn't it been featured positively by the MSM? she asked innocently. In point of fact, they've run the AFP's assessment that it is "a largely symbolic agreement", as if Kyoto were anything other.