More than seven years later, the agreement forged during those long nights of negotiation will finally take effect. On Feb. 16, the Kyoto Protocol -- revered in much of the world, reviled by many in the United States -- becomes legally binding on 131 countries that have accepted its terms. The most immediate impacts will be in the 35 industrialized countries, including Canada, Japan, and all members of the European Union, that have agreed to limit heat-trapping gases during the period 2008 to 2012.
The event is rich in irony. The United States will not be a party to the Kyoto Protocol. Indeed, the Bush administration's rejection of the agreement has become a symbol of its foreign policy for much of the world. Yet the Kyoto Protocol's most enduring legacy may be a uniquely American idea -- that "emissions trading" can help control heat-trapping gases at low cost.
