Fires are raging through tinderbox forests in America's western states, spilling greenhouse gases into the air. The US wants to use such forests as valuable carbon sinks-mopping up carbon dioxide and allowing cars and factories to continue their profligate use of fossil fuels. Scientists say the charred US woodlands help to illustrate why the Kyoto Protocol, the cornerstone of worldwide efforts to curb global warming, is fatally flawed. While governments prepare to finalise the treaty in the Hague in November, a report published this week by an independent international think tank warns that the deal will be impossible to police. The report says the much-hyped agreement, designed to save the planet from humans, is a "cheat's charter".
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