Of Montreal and Kyoto: A Tale of Two Protocols
![handle is hein.journals/helr31 and id is 5 raw text is: OF MONTREAL AND KYOTO:
A TALE OF TWO PROTOCOLS
Cass R. Sunstein*
INTRODUCTION
I am pleased to sign the instrument of ratification for the Mont-
real protocol [governing] substances that deplete the ozone layer.
The protocol marks an important milestone for the future quality
of the global environment and for the health and well-being of all
peoples of the world. Unanimous approval of the protocol by the
Senate on March 14the [sic] demonstrated to the world community
this country's willingness to act promptly and decisively in car-
rying out its commitments to protect the stratospheric ozone layer
-Ronald Reagan'
I oppose the Kyoto Protocol because it ... would cause serious
harm to the U.S. economy. The Senate's vote, 95-0, shows that
there is a clear consensus that the Kyoto Protocol is an unfair and
ineffective means of addressing global climate change concerns.
-George W. Bush2
Of the world's environmental challenges, the two most significant may
well be stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change. At first glance,
the problems appear to be closely related. In fact ozone depletion and cli-
* Karl N. Llewellyn Distinguished Service Professor of Jurisprudence, Law School and
Department of Political Science, University of Chicago. I am grateful to Daniel Abebe,
Elizabeth Emens, Jack Goldsmith, Robert Hahn, Douglas Lichtman, Jonathan Masur, An-
drew Moravcsik, Michael Oppenheimer, Eric Posner, and Adrian Vermeule for valuable
comments on a previous draft; a work-in-progress workshop at the University of Chicago
Law School was a great help. I am also grateful to Rachael Dizard and Matthew Tokson for
superb research assistance, and to Frank Ackerman for excellent suggestions about the eco-
nomic literature on climate change. Finally, I am grateful to participants in a superb semi-
nar devoted to this paper at the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University, and in
particular to Robert Keohane, my commentator on that occasion; I regret that I have not
been able to respond adequately to all of the questions raised there, and especially to Keo-
hane's excellent suggestions.
I President Signs Protocol on Ozone-Depletion Substances-Ronald Reagan's State-
ment-Transcript Apr 5, 1988, http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m 1079/is-n2135_
v88/ai_6495606 (last visited Oct. 18, 2006) (on file with the Harvard Environmental Law
Review).
2 Letter from George W. Bush, U.S. President, to Senators Hagel, Helms, Craig, and
Roberts (Mar. 13, 2001), available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/03/2001
0314.html (last visited Oct. 18, 2006) (on file with the Harvard Environmental Law Review).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/helr31&div=5&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Of Montreal and Kyoto: A Tale of Two Protocols
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