Truth melts down.(Between The Lines)

ITEM: A release from the United Nations on November 8 reported." "The Arctic climate is warming rapidly, much larger changes are in store due to increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases from human activity and the global impact such as rising sea levels will be 'staggering,' presenting one of the most serious threats to humankind."

Mr. Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the UN Environment Program, also "praised Russia's recent decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change as an important step in the international fight to check global warming...."

BETWEEN THE LINES: A confluence of influences helps sell global warming as an imminent disaster. But upon scrutiny, "global warming" doesn't warrant the attention it has been receiving.

Consider Russia's recent ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Even the Russian Academy of Sciences concluded there was no scientific basis for the agreement. President Vladimir Putin admitted it was "scientifically flawed." So why ratify? Well, Putin went along with the game after the leaders of the European Union promised to support Moscow's entry into the World Trade Organization, the BBC reported. When the treaty takes effect, Moscow will be able to start selling its "emission credits" to Europe, raking in perhaps $5 billion annually. As Dr. Fred Singer of the Science & Environmental Policy Project has noted, that income transfer will come from European taxpayers, "households and industries that consume electricity."

While the mass media crank up horror stories (e.g., the Washington Post says warming "could cause polar bears to go extinct"), they largely ignore potential treaty implementation costs, including nearly five million lost U.S. ...