by John Meredith (NAPS)—Fearthat the world is warming because of industrializa- tion is a theory with no factual basis. Whatwereally need to fear are the policies being pushed to stop it. These new reguThe lations will hurt Global everyone, especially ; those struggling to ing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere.” This is expected to force us to cut our energy use by between 30 percent and 40 percent. The U.S. of heating oil price increases. Imagine paying 55 cents more per gallon of gas under the Kyoto Protocol. Imagine earning less and paying more for energy, food and medical expenses. dicts the Kyoto Protocol could When you're a struggling black family already spending a larger cent—or 55 cents per gallon, elec- these necessities than everyone Energy Information Agency preraise gas prices by up to 40 per- Warming get by. As a black erer American caught in tricity prices by up to 80-85 percent and heating oil prices by up to 60 percent. ticularly fear for my community hard-earned income to stop some- percentage of your income on else, it leads to serious decisions. I’m not happy spending my Air conditioning, heat or the convenienceof a car maybesacrificed so other bills can be paid. And and myself. While global warming proponents claim emissions from our cars and factories are causing the planet to heat, the facts don’t proveit. Despite some hot summers and a strong El Nino, NASAsatellite thing that is not a threat. And knowing what the Kyoto Protocol gencies or unexpected expenses. By potentially reducing our rate indicator of global temperature—actually show a cooling trend. risk. As many as 100,000 black and Hispanic businesses could that struggle, I par- measurements—the most accu- could do to the black community wages, raising ourcost of living, ment Information Services, Inc. Kyoto Protocol is an environmen- concerns me even more. A report conducted by Manage- found black family income could decline by an average of $2,220 and 864,000 black jobs could be at also face ruin as energy costs including 2,100 climatologists, increase and the ability to turn a profit decreases. experts, recently signed a declaration stating, “There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of greenhousegases is caus- ing high prices for gas this summer and not looking forward to paying the estimated $200 extra per household this winter because In fact, nearly 17,000 scientists, meteorologists and enviromental pray there are no medical emer- I’m sure you weren’t happy pay- putting us out of work and destroying our businesses, the tal threat to black America. If the government is going to meetits commitment, it can make sure the Kyoto Protocol is never imposed uponus. John Meredith, the son of Mis- sissippi civil rights leader James Meredith, is a member of the African-American leadership net- work Project 21 of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C. think-tank.
