OPINION COMMENTARY

The Sons of Kyoto: Renewable Energy and Amendment 37

As Colorado households and businesses struggle to pay ever-increasing energy costs, Colorado voters get another chance to self-inflict another increase. Although not quite dead yet, the Kyoto Protocol is in intensive care and on life-support. President George W. Bush announced in 2001, the United States was not going to be a party to the protocol. Bush felt the Kyoto Protocol amounted to nothing more than an “energy tax” on the U.S. and other industrialized countries. The intent of the Kyoto Protocol was to slow the effects of “global warming” by encouraging the development of renewable energy and discouraging the use of hydro–carbon fuels. Many scientists and other environmental experts argue that the effect of these measures would be miniscule and that technological advances could have a greater impact. With the United States out of the Kyoto Accord, environmentalists and other proponents decided they could accomplish the same goals by implementing pieces of the plan on a state-by-state basis. This piecemeal approach soon became known as “sons of Kyoto.” So far sixteen states have, either through legislation or initiative, adopted similar plans....