It began as far as I remember with the New World Order christian fanatics in the late '80s and '90s. It probably existed in some form before that though. Essentially the fear was handing over US sovereignty to a global government. Of course the kooks thought the UN would be run by the antichrist and all this would precede the second coming etc etc yawn cough. The fanatics opposed treaties such as GATT/WTO and NAFTA because they "gave up US soveriegnty."

Fast forward to the 21st Century. Now Kyoto is the target and the entire anti-global warming crowd has fixated once again on the "threat" the UN and Kyoto poses to our way of life. Let's look at this seriously:

1: The USA has a $13T economy. That is as big as the next 5 largest economic powers on the planet. We've gone through wars, impeachments, trade deficits, recessions etc and it's still been at least 30 years (probably MUCH longer) since our GDP has declined in a single year. Newsflash: We're no where near the brink of collapse.

2: The UN has lost so much clout due to mismanagement and corruption that it is a laughingstock. Does it serve an important role? Absolutely. It is the forum in which the nations of the world discuss global issues. But in the 50s a powerful US Senator (can't remember his name) gave up his seat to be UN Ambassador. Does anyone see that happening now? The UN is weaker now than in most of its history. No need to fear the folks currently running the UN calling the shots anytime soon, or EVER.

3. Opponents of Kyoto fear the loss of our sovereignty and destruction of our economy. First of all, EVERY treaty we have ever entered into in some way limits our "sovereignty." That's the way international agreements work. The non-proliferation treaty also limits Iran's and North Korea's sovereignty. WE CAN ALWAYS PULL OUT OF A TREATY IF IT IS NOT IN OUR NATIONAL INTEREST. Why? Because we are a sovereign nation. Next, the people who fear economic devastation have little understanding of how capitalism works. If the big oil industry collapsed tomorrow another energy would rise from the ashes. Capitalism is like a Phoenix. The same for any other industry hurt by environmental restrictions. Kyoto will in fact turn the American economy loose to become the provider of clean energy for the world. WE will become the energy exporters instead of the Islamic fascists and crackpot latin dictators.

The planet is in danger, and the arguments against taking action are irrational. The denialists need to stop acting like religious fanatics regarding their fear of an environmental treaty that will in no way seriously harm out economy.