Europe is destroying our environment, but blaming America
Many European countries that have criticized America for ignoring the Kyoto Protocol have themselves made no serious effort to adhere to its emissions regulations. From the Scotsman:
The London-based think-tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), has found that ten of the 15 European Union signatories to the Kyoto Protocol will miss their targets by 2010 without urgent action.
The worst offenders are Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy, each up to 20 per cent off target. Only Britain, Sweden and France are remotely on target.
The poorly performing nations are among the many who have criticised the US and President George Bush - who early in his presidency declared Kyoto “dead” - for refusing to sign up to the agreement because of fears it would limit economic growth.
…
Duncan McLaren, the chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland … added: “We are not surprised to see the EU falling behind its Kyoto targets, and this is because nations are increasing the pursuit of economic growth rather than sustainable development.“
What kind of bizarre Orwell-speak is this? “Economic growth” is bad. “Sustainable development” is good.
December 28th, 2005 at 12:58 pm
Empty Promises from Europe
Cardinal Martini had an interesting post based on a story from The Scotsman. It seems that our good European friends, the ones who were just so upset when President Bush withdrew our signature from the abominable Kyoto Protocols, aren’t going t…
December 28th, 2005 at 1:36 pm
One of Foreign Policy.com’s top 10 missed stories for 2005
Hot Air’s Shifting Winds
When it comes to emitting greenhouse gases, the United States is usually seen as the bad guy, content to belch out fumes at its pleasure. But reports released in late November show that U.S. emissions have fallen for the first time in more than a decade. Between 2000 and 2003, U.S. emissions fell by 0.8 percent. By contrast, global goody-two-shoes Canada saw a 24.2 percent increase in 2003 from its 1990 levels. Even the sanctimonious Europeans are set to miss their Kyoto targets by 6.4 percent. Uncle Sam’s emissions dropped partly because U.S. firms introduced clean coal technologies and reduced their methane emissions.
** Note - they add as another reason the shifting of manufacturing to China (or course, they fail to add China is exempt from Kyoto requirements)