European Industry Protests Plans to Cut CO2 Emissions
European industry groups are protesting aggressive efforts to cut carbon-dioxide emissions. In the U.K., a draft national plan targets reductions of 20 percent by 2010, almost double what’s mandated by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The country’s electricity generators, which will be particularly hard-hit by the plan, claim it will send jobs abroad and raise electricity prices. In other news, confidential — but subsequently leaked — memos sent to E.U. Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association and the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, which together represent every major automaker, take issue with European plans to stem emissions from cars. The memo from European automakers estimates that E.U. CO2 goals will add almost $5,000 to the price of every car and argues that “car buyers are not prepared to pay any extra for cleaner, more environmentally friendly cars.” Duncan McLaren of Friends of the Earth Scotland chastised the industry groups for “choosing to ignore the massive detrimental impacts society is already beginning to suffer as a result of pollution-induced climate change.”
