Less costly views of climate pact The Kyoto treaty may boost -
not hurt - economies. New studies counter Bush's view. Keep your
eye on the climate, but your hand on your wallet.Skip to next
paragraph Subscribe Today to the Monitor That's the attitude the
Bush administration takes in rejecting the Kyoto climate treaty:
It will cost American jobs, causing as much as a 2 percent drop
in US economic output over the next decade. But a series of
studies in the US, Europe, and Japan released in recent days
suggests that if the Kyoto guidelines are implemented, the US
and other industrial nations are likely to see only a slight
decline of as little as 0.15 percent, or a modest economic boost
of as much as 1 percent. The studies may breathe new life into a
global-emissions reduction plan that is in trouble without US
participation. The US alone accounts for 25 percent of the
world's carbon emissions. How could such divergent conclusions
be reached about Kyoto's impact? Until now, "the economic debate
has not been cond