EnviroSpin Watch

Europe's hypocrisy and shame needs to be thrown in the Manneken Pis.....

For 10 years, ecochondriac Europe has been lecturing and haranguing the rest of the world about 'The Great Global Warming Scare'. Its hypocrisy knows no bounds. The reality is truly shame-making:

(a) Germany, Europe's biggest emitter of so-called 'greenhouse gases', has just announced that it will permit an increase in emissions, and the German cabinet has decided to exclude the coal industry from the EU's carbon-trading programme, permitting new coal plants to opt out [see: 'New German rule could increase greenhouse gas emissions' (The New York Times, June 29: log-in usually required); 'Berlin accused of capitulating to industry in carbon emission targets' (The Financial Times, June 29); and, 'Germany gives coal opt out under CO₂ emission plan' (Planet Ark, June 29)];

(b) France is to keep its extremely generous CO₂ allowances to support its struggling economy [see: 'France to cut but keep generous CO₂ cap in 2008-12' (Planet Ark, June 29)];

(c) Greece is going to be a marathon off its Kyoto targets (forecasting that, by 2015, CO₂ emissions will have increased by 47.7% from 1990 levels, and by 58.3% in 2020). It is facing a massive fine; just watch it run the marathon - away from Brussels. Nearly all other European countries, like Ireland, Spain, and Portugal, have equally appalling records [see: 'Greece fails on Kyoto targets' (Kathimerini, June 29)].

Now, one wouldn't mind all this if Europe hadn't been so self-righteous and so 'holier-than-thou' over climate change. After all, readers of 'EnviroSpin' know too well that the Kyoto Protocol won't work, that governments will not be able to cut emissions, and that it is a nonsense in any case. Moreover, the hard economic reasons for failure have been recognised for a long time [see, for example: 'New studies reveal real cost of Kyoto Protocol' (PR Newswire, November 7, 2005)]:

(1) Kyoto targets will cause average rises of 26% in European electricity prices;

(2) Kyoto targets will cause average rises of 41% in natural gas prices by 2010;

(3) There will be significant job losses of at least 200,000 in most countries, rising to as many as 611,000 in Spain by 2010;

(4) There will be serious damage to European economies, with significant reductions in GDP below base levels by 2010: 0.8% for Germany; 3.1% Spain; 2.1% Italy; and, 1.1% the UK.

The truth is simple. There is no way that Europe can, or will, cut its emissions in any significant fashion. Why does it, therefore, try to tell us differently? It is surely time to come clean, and to throw the nauseating ecochondriac rhetoric into the Manneken Pis. There have been too many sops to the strident Green lobby, and it has to stop. In a globalising world, Europe cannot afford to lose its competitive edge. The thought of a declining France and Germany is not a "nappy one".

Philip, increasingly angry that, in Europe, we have been talking such codswallop and cant over climate. No wonder there is deep cynicism over the EU and its political pontificating. Still things are looking up - it's time for tea. [Hat tip to Dr. Benny Peiser for the above links].