This petition has been signed by over 31,000 American
scientists. The United States is very close to adopting an
international agreement that would ration the use of energy and
of technologies that depend upon coal, oil, and natural gas and
some other organic compounds. This treaty is, in our opinion,
based upon flawed ideas. Research data on climate change do not
show that human use of hydrocarbons is harmful. To the contrary,
there is good evidence that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide
is environmentally helpful. Environmental Effects of Increased
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide A review of the research literature
concerning the environmental consequences of increased levels of
atmospheric carbon dioxide leads to the conclusion that
increases during the 20th Century have produced no deleterious
effects upon global weather, climate, or temperature. Increased
carbon dioxide has, however, markedly increased plant growth
rates. Predictions of harmful climatic effects due to future
increases in minor greenhouse g