Does it seem to you like nothing ever changes in the world? Well, you’re right, and now I have hard evidence. I was searching through the archive of Bob Park’s What’s New newsletter when I ran across this snippet, right above an update about the miracle of cold fusion:
At the World Climate Conference in Geneva this week, the United States blocked consensus on specific goals for reduction of carbon dioxide emission. As What’s New predicted a month ago, the US sided with such backward nations as China and the Soviet Union, and oil producers like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. Our traditional allies, Western European nations, Canada Japan, New Zealand and Australia, said they could cut emissions through energy efficiency measures at no net cost. A German study even concludes they can make money — selling energy-saving technologies to backward countries like the US. John Knauss, the head of NOAA who led the US delegation, contended the revised Clean Air Act would lead to significant CO2 reductions, but a recent estimate from EPA put the reduction at only about 2%.
The date of the newsletter: November 9, 1990. Seems like it could have been yesterday. Or tomorrow.
P.S. You should subscribe to Bob’s newsletter. It’s required reading for those who are interested in the politics of science.
