Americans sing their Kyoto protests in style

Young American climate change sceptics staged a song-and-dance protest in Bonn yesterday, in boot-camp style, to make the point…

Young American climate change sceptics staged a song-and-dance protest in Bonn yesterday, in boot-camp style, to make the point that nothing needs to be done about global warming.

"One, two, three, four, throw Kyoto out the door," the 35 right-wing US students trilled in unison. Or "I don't know, but I've been told, the Kyoto Protocol is getting cold."

Their "drill sergeant", Craig Rutter, director of the Washington-based Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, said their aim was to counter "misinformation by extremist environmentalists".

Philip Crowe (21), a student at the University of Minnesota, dressed as a pantomime cow, said implementing Kyoto could cost the US up to five million jobs, creating a worldwide depression.

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"Every one of us here believes in saving the world and keeping it safe and clean. But because the US is reliant on energy for the lifestyle we've been living, if you disrupt that, you disrupt everything," he said.

Tyler Dunman (20), from Houston, Texas, supported President Bush's decision as well. With his father working for Exxon and his mother a Chevrolet dealer, "you could say I've got fossil fuels in my blood".

The bible for these adamant Americans is Hot Talk, Cold Science by Fred Singer, who dismisses the Kyoto process as "alarmist".

Frank McDonald

Frank McDonald

Frank McDonald, a contributor to The Irish Times, is the newspaper's former environment editor