On December 11, 1997 at Kyoto, the world’s industrial nations pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2012, in order to promote sustainable development and reduce global warming.

The pact – agreed to by former President Bill Clinton but not ratified by the U.S. Senate – has been abandoned by the Bush administration.

The Kyoto accord will surely fail without U.S. participation.

The United States is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases; with 5% of the world’s population, it accounts for 25% of the world’s total emissions. That number is sure to rise as the U.S. population grows by millions of people each decade.

The demands of the U.S.’s immigration-driven population growth continue to overburden our environment. Fossil fuels required to run automobiles, heat homes and businesses, and power factories are responsible for about 98% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, 24% of methane emissions, and 18% of nitrous oxide emissions. Increased agriculture, deforestation, landfills, industrial production, and mining contribute a significant share of emissions as well. These problems increase as U.S. population grows.

Like every other environmental issue, global warming and subsequent climate changes cannot be resolved until population growth is reversed and stabilized at a sustainable level.