This is from today’s New York Times editorial entitled “Disappointments on Climate,” about the recent UN climate conference in Bali.

Despite pleas from their European allies, the Americans flatly rejected the idea of setting even provisional targets for reductions in greenhouse gases. And they refused to give what the rest of the world wanted most: an unambiguous commitment to reducing America’s own emissions. Without that, there is little hope that other large emitters, including China, will change their ways.

The more one examines the data on climate change and emissions, the more one might be likely to call the piece: “Good News on Climate.” Commitments to reduce emissions serve the sole purpose of appeasing an hysterical world community. The fact is, countries that signed the Kyoto treaty on emissions went on to be worse emissions offenders than countries that didn’t. An article in the American Thinker reports:

If we look at that data and compare 2004 (latest year for which data is available) to 1997 (last year before the Kyoto treaty was signed), we find the following:

* Emissions worldwide increased 18 percent.

* Emissions from countries that signed the treaty increased 21 percent.

* Emissions from non-signers increased 10 percent.

* Emissions from the U.S. increased 6.6 percent.

More importantly, there is still nothing resembling conclusive data suggesting mankind has a significant effect on the Earth’s climate. This is from an open letter signed by “over 100 prominent international scientists” and sent to the UN Secretary General in Bali: “It is not possible to stop climate change, a natural phenomenon that has affected humanity through the ages.”

And: “Attempts to prevent global climate change from occurring are ultimately futile, and constitute a tragic misallocation of resources that would be better spent on humanity’s real and pressing problems.”

The letter, an antidote to climate change hysteria, is worth reading in its entirety.