Neither Barack Obama nor John McCain is in any hurry to ratify Kyoto

CANOE -- Toronto Sun: - America's gas pains

True, McCain cleverly disguised his position by posting it on his website during the Republican primaries, which may explain why our intelligentsia missed it, especially since what he said was so unclear. What he said was: "I believe that America did the right thing by not joining the Kyoto treaty ..." Confusing, eh?

As for Obama, as an Illinois state senator in 1998, he voted for a bill supported by Illinois' powerful coal lobby, opposing Kyoto and banning the state from regulating greenhouse gases.

To understand how entrenched American opposition to Kyoto is, recall that the year before, then U.S. president Bill Clinton and vice-president Al Gore -- yeah, that Al Gore -- abandoned attempts to get the U.S. to ratify Kyoto for their remaining three years in office.

That after the U.S. Senate, which must ratify international treaties, voted 95-0 -- Democrats unanimously joining with Republicans -- to reject Kyoto for exempting the developing world from reducing greenhouse gases.