Editing Kyoto Protocol (section)

===Non-ratification by the US===
The US signed the Protocol on 12 November 1998,<ref>{{cite web|title=Congressional Research Service Reports #98-349: Global Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions About the Kyoto Protocol|url=http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/ern/01jul/98-349.php|access-date=22 April 2014|archive-date=6 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140506234653/http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/ern/01jul/98-349.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> during the [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] presidency. To become binding in the US, however, the treaty had to be ratified by the [[United States Senate|Senate]], which had already passed the 1997 non-binding [[Byrd-Hagel Resolution]], expressing disapproval of any international agreement that did not require developing countries to make emission reductions and "would seriously harm the economy of the United States". The resolution passed 95–0.<ref>Byrd-Hagel Resolution ({{cite web |url=http://www.nationalcenter.org/KyotoSenate.html |title=Byrd-Hagel Resolution (S. Res. 98) Expressing the Sense of the Senate Regarding Conditions for the U.S. Signing the Global Climate Change Treaty |access-date=2014-12-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626110143/http://www.nationalcenter.org/KyotoSenate.html |archive-date=26 June 2010 |df=dmy-all }})</ref> Therefore, even though the [[Clinton administration]] signed the treaty,<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/12/11/kyoto/ "Clinton Hails Global Warming Pact"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502014031/http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/12/11/kyoto/ |date=2 May 2009 }}. All Politics (CNN). 11 December 1997. Retrieved 5 November 2006.</ref> it was never submitted to the Senate for ratification.

At the outset of the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|Bush administration]], Senators [[Chuck Hagel]], [[Jesse Helms]], [[Larry Craig]], and [[Pat Roberts]] wrote a letter to [[George W. Bush|President George W. Bush]] seeking to identify his position on the Kyoto Protocol and climate change policy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ParlInfo - GRIEVANCE DEBATE: Environment: Greenhouse Policy|url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:%22chamber/hansardr/2001-03-26/0103%22|access-date=2020-08-24|website=parlinfo.aph.gov.au}}</ref> In a letter dated March 13, 2001, President Bush responded that his "Administration takes the issue of global climate change very seriously", but that "I oppose the Kyoto Protocol because it exempts 80 percent of the world, including major population centers such as China and India, from compliance, and would cause serious harm to the U.S. economy. The Senate's vote, 95-0, shows that there is a clear consensus that the Kyoto Protocol is an unfair and ineffective means of addressing global climate change concerns."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Text of a Letter From The President|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/03/20010314.html|access-date=2020-08-24|website=georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov|archive-date=22 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722073329/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/03/20010314.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The administration also questioned the scientific certainty around climate change and cited potential harms of emissions reduction to the US economy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dessler |first=Andrew E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ivw7EAAAQBAJ |title=Introduction to Modern Climate Change |date=2021 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-84018-7 |pages=234 |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Tyndall Centre]] for Climate Change Research reported in 2001:<blockquote>This policy reversal received a massive wave of criticism that was quickly picked up by the international media. Environmental groups blasted the White House, while Europeans and Japanese alike expressed deep concern and regret. ... Almost all world leaders (e.g. China, Japan, South Africa, Pacific Islands, etc.) expressed their disappointment at Bush's decision.<ref name="Dessai 2001 5–6">{{harvnb|Dessai|2001|pp=5–6}}</ref></blockquote>In response to this criticism, Bush stated: "I was responding to reality, and reality is the nation has got a real problem when it comes to energy". The Tyndall Centre called this "an overstatement used to cover up the big benefactors of this policy reversal, i.e., the US oil and coal industry, which has a powerful lobby with the administration and conservative [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] congressmen."<ref name="Dessai 2001 5–6"/>

As of 2023, the US is the only signatory that has not ratified the Protocol.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVII-7-a&chapter=27&lang=en|title=United Nations Treaty Collection|website=treaties.un.org|access-date=27 December 2014|archive-date=8 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008095709/https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVII-7-a&chapter=27&lang=en|url-status=dead}}</ref> The US accounted for 36.1% of emissions in 1990.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Weiner |first1=John Barlow |last2=Bankobeza |first2=Gilbert |last3=Block |first3=Kitty |last4=Fraenkel |first4=Amy |last5=Hobgood |first5=Teresa |last6=Mattice |first6=Alice |last7=Wagner |first7=David W. |date=2003 |title=International Environmental Law |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40707857 |journal=The International Lawyer |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=575–587 |jstor=40707857 |issn=0020-7810 |access-date=27 June 2022 |archive-date=27 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627045357/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40707857 |url-status=live }}</ref> As such, for the treaty to go into legal effect without US ratification, it would require a coalition including the EU, Russia, Japan, and small parties. A deal, without the US Administration, was reached in the Bonn climate talks (COP-6.5), held in 2001.<ref>{{harvnb|Dessai|2001|pp=5–10}}</ref>