The Kyoto Protocol comes into effect today. It is a hollow victory for environmentalists. Over 150 of the world's countries are not participating in Kyoto cuts of greenhouse emissions. Only 35 countries have pledged to make greenhouse cuts. Only two of the EU15 countries are on track to meet their Kyoto commitments. Italy, a signatory to the treaty, says it won't seek further greenhouse gas emissions reductions after 2012.

The European Union is now calling for taxes to be increased on motorists to help Kyoto have a chance. But, as protests in France and Britain have shown, the European public is unlikely to find this acceptable. As a result of the British protest, the Fuel Duty Escalator - where the tax on petrol is increased yearly - was ended by Britain's finance minister Gordon Brown for fear of electoral disaster. So the EU is unlikely to meet Kyoto's requirements - despite the sanctimonious speeches of European leaders.

But the worst part of Kyoto is that it is, quite literally, a waste of money. It will have almost no effect, environmentally-speaking. The result of Kyoto's cuts will be that Europe will be poorer in the future. That will harm Europe's ability to invest in new technologies that will help improve quality of life and the environment. Kyoto gets religious-style worship, but it is bad news for the planet.