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Sunday, January 19th, 2014

Green Fade-Out: Europe to Ditch Climate Protection Goals

Author:     GREGOR PETER SCHMITZ
Source:     Der Spiegel (Germany)
Publication Date:     January 15, 2014 - 02:42 PM
Link: Green Fade-Out: Europe to Ditch Climate Protection Goals
Stephan:   If you have any questions about which are the real power centers in our world this story should disabuse you of illusions. The Virtual Corporate States that are the actual power centers in the 21st century do not like regulations in general and climate change regulations in particular. And so, once again, the profit for the few trumps the well-being of the many, indeed, the planet. These are such sad stories. A child can look at the data and see where this is headed.

BRUSSELS — The EU’s reputation as a model of environmental responsibility may soon be history. The European Commission wants to forgo ambitious climate protection goals and pave the way for fracking — jeopardizing Germany’s touted energy revolution in the process.

The climate between Brussels and Berlin is polluted, something European Commission officials attribute, among other things, to the “reckless” way German Chancellor Angela Merkel blocked stricter exhaust emissions during her re-election campaign to placate domestic automotive manufacturers like Daimler and BMW. This kind of blatant self-interest, officials complained at the time, is poisoning the climate.

But now it seems that the climate is no longer of much importance to the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, either. Commission sources have long been hinting that the body intends to move away from ambitious climate protection goals. On Tuesday, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported as much.

At the request of Commission President José Manuel Barroso, EU member states are no longer to receive specific guidelines for the development ofrenewable energy. The stated aim of increasing the share of green energy across the EU to up to 27 percent will hold. But how seriously countries tackle this project will no longer be regulated within the plan. As […]

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