The fate of the Kyoto protocol Accounting for 25% of the world’s greenhouse gases, the US has effective veto power over any treaty to combat climate change.  In March 2001, the newly elected president George W. Bush declared that the US would not participate in the Kyoto Protocol, citing the lack of participation of developing countries and the burdens it would place on the US economy. Though the Clinton administration strongly supported the treaty, US senate ratification had always been in doubt.
				Though reaction in the US was muted, protests occurred elsewhere in the world.  Europeans were particularly outraged that the treaty was effectively being shelved. This photo shows Europeans carrying Texas-style “wanted” posters.