Russia has flip-flopped and plans to ratify the Kyoto treaty afterall. Russia had previously spurned the treaty, most likely because they weren't getting their way. Now that they have decided to toe the environmentalist line, one can only assume that concessions were made to bring them on board. Without Russia, the whole treaty would have failed.

Russia's support of the protocol means it would be put into effect worldwide. It must be ratified by no fewer than 55 countries that accounted for at least 55 percent of global emissions in 1990, and Russia's participation would tip the scale.

Environmentalists will undoubtedly hail this as a victory, and call on the U.S. to get on board as well.

But the brutal truth is that with Russia on board, pollution is likely to increase rather than decrease. As I reported early last year, Russia's adoption of the Kyoto Protocol is actually bad for the environment. You see, the Kyoto Treaty demands that nations cut emissions to pre-1990 levels. Well, during the late 1980s, the sun was setting on the cold war and Russia was at her peak of industrialization. Today's emissions are already back at 1980s levels, which means Russia has pollution to spare. By pushing for those credits to be transferrable, Russia is in the position to actually sell pollution credits to nations who cannot meet the cut-off. That means if you are overpolluting, rather than face sanctions under Kyoto, you just purchase a license to pollute on Russia's behalf. Russia profits from the deal by selling to the highest bidder, while pollution coming from the bidder is actually much higher than would have been allowed, if Russia had not been on board.