Now that Nicholas “le Americain” Sarkozy has won the French presidential election (congratulations for defeating the Socialist are in order), he has thrown down the gage in telling America he may be a friend but he’s pretty cheesed about our dereliction when it comes to making promises about global warming.

At least, our refusal to make the promise that Europe made and over which it is running roughshod must be what upsets Mr Sarkozy, as it certainly can’t be the case that, with all of the global warming scofflaws among his neighbors, it is our superior performance which has him upset.

With all due respect, Mr. Sarkozy should not just speak first to his his compatriots and fellow-Kyoto promise makers, if not promise keepers, Spain, Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and on and on, whose rate of GHG emission increases in many instances would make India blush. Remember, also, that France signed, ratified, submitted…then reneged upon…the EU-wide promise of an 8% reduction of GHGs below 1990 levels, in favor of a promise of no reduction at all.

Indeed, France now even officially projects emission increases (that is, Kyoto violations; see “Annex I EU-15″ link at bottom of the above hyperlink) and, given that such projections throughout Europe have been, shall we say, modest, this is hardly the stuff that threats of a trade war and other global warming bullying is made of (France having joined Italy recently in calling for such barriers against US goods).

Plus, Brussels is playing games with its numbers, such that any actual emission reduction it announces (and it looks like it will try this next month) is automatically eaten up in the cheat they pulled by serially and materially jacking up their 1990 baseline figure in order to lower their putative, collective violation.

It is now a fact of life that the Bush Administration is either unwilling or unable to defend itself on this matter, ever since the day that it elected to couch its “cliamte change” stance other than simply as continuing the Clinton-Gore position of not seeking ratification of the Kyoto Protocol (March 17, 2001 for those keeping score at home). As such, yet again, here is a reminder of le Truth.