The United States's Obligation to Lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions: An American Perspective of the Kyoto Protocol

IntroductionThe Kyoto Protocol is a tool for the implementation and enforcement of concrete goals in accordance with the aspirational objectives that are set forth in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 1 The United States ratified the Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992,2 but has yet to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.3 While the Framework Convention on Climate Change listed several goals to limit the emission of greenhouse gasses, there are no legal mechanisms to enforce such action.The Framework Convention on Climate Change merely sets up a backdrop by which later requirements and legal obligations can.both be implemented and monitored.The United States has yet to assent to any legal requirements under the Framework Convention on Climate Change.As a result, the United States is not bound by the Kyoto Protocol.However, the United States may have an obligation under customary international law to take steps to protect the environment in general.Despite the lack of direct legal obligations on the part of the United States, several commentators have suggested various means to * (J.D.) University of Miami School of Law, 2002.I would like to thank Professor Richard Williamson for providing me with the background information and the initial starting points that form the basis of this note.Additionally, I would like to thank Bryan Hanes for his patience in reading draft after draft and for always giving me honest, but kind, feedback.1 Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change: Kyoto Protocol, Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Dec. 10, 1997, 37 I.L.M.22, 32 (1998) [hereinafter Kyoto Protocol]; United Nations Conference on Environment and Development: Framework Convention on Climate Change, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, opened for signature June 4, 1992, 31 I.L.M. 849, 851 (1992). 2 See Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, (last updated November 7,