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US Govt. Condemned for Walkout From Kyoto Protocol
People of color, indigenous people and workers bear a disproportionate health, social and economic burden of "a society addicted to a fossil fuel economy" because of the walkout of the Bush administration from the Kyoto Protocol, Dr. Robert Bullard from the United States National Black Environmental Justice Network said Wednesday in Durban.
The above-mentioned people are the first victims of "government inaction, corporate abuse and negligent public policy", Bullard said, adding: "Foot dragging and inactions is not only immoral, but is sending a death warrant in people of color communities, which is tantamount to environmental racism."
"If the U.S. administration truly represented Americans most affected by climate change, they would not have walked away from the Kyoto Protocol and the World Conference Against Racism," the scholar added.
Although President George W. Bush cited concern that curbing carbon dioxide emissions would "harm our economy and hurt our American workers", over 2,500 economists, including eight Nobel laureates, have declared that policies to slow climate change can be enacted without harming either the U.S. economy or living standards, Bullard added.
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