Text 27699, 98 rader
Skriven 2007-03-10 05:55:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: EU
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Typical liberals.  In the 70s we have rid the planet of nuclear energy 
and global cooling.   In the 90s we had use MTBE which will save the air 
but almost destroyed our water supply.  In 2000 we have CO2 and methane 
causing global warming.  So the EU wants to go nuclear while the US 
remains behind due to the actions of the whackos from the 70s.  These 
are the same whackos of the 90s and 200, just with a different song.


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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1495115.ece

March 10, 2007

Europe agrees to embrace nuclear option in battle to save the 
planetDavid Charter and Rory Watson, Brussels 
The role of nuclear power in Europe received an unexpected boost 
yesterday as EU leaders hailed a landmark climate change deal to reduce 
greenhouse gas emissions and switch to renewable fuels. 

Environmentalists complained that an ambitious headline goal to cut 
Europe’s CO emissions by a fifth by 2020 had been weakened by 
concessions to the main nuclear nations and the biggest polluters in 
Eastern Europe. 

Nonetheless, Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, will use the 
agreement struck at the spring EU summit in Brussels to put pressure on 
world leaders to follow suit when she hosts the G8 meeting in June. 

China, India and Brazil will join that summit and, like the US, be 
challenged to accept the principle of binding CO cuts for the first 
time. 

As well as agreeing in principle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, EU 
leaders pledged to ensure that 20 per cent of Europe’s energy will come 
from renewable sources by 2020. The commitment of all 27 member nations 
is legally enforceable by the European Court of Justice. 

Months of haggling will follow as diplomats argue over targets for 
individual countries. Each will contribute a different amount, and 
diplomats made clear that less would be expected of the heaviest-
polluting former Communist countries. The Czechs and Slovaks had both 
complained that they had only just left decades of five-year plans 
behind them. 

In a sop to France and the Czech Republic, a country’s nuclear power 
capability will be taken into account when calculating national 
commitments to renewable energy. France produces 80 per cent of its 
electricity from nuclear power stations and insisted that this 
“noncarbonö source of fuel should be taken into consideration. French 
diplomats believe this will lessen the EU demand for more renewable 
sources such as wave, wind and solar power. 

Jacques Chirac, the outgoing French President, welcomed the deal as one 
of the top three achievements of the EU during his 12 years in the 
Elysée Palace. 

Tony Blair was also pleased with the concession towards the nuclear 
powers. The outcome will give a boost to his plans to rebuild Britain’s 
ageing nuclear power stations which suffered a setback last month when 
the High Court ruled that the consultation process was seriously flawed. 
Mr Blair said: “There is then the 20 per cent target on renewable 
energy. In setting that, there will be permission to look at the energy 
mix that countries have . . . including nuclear technology, which 
obviously helps the UK as well.ö 

Environmentalists were less enthusiastic. Friends of the Earth said the 
targets were timid. A spokesman said: “Heads of States gave a modest 
boost to the uptake of renewable energies, but agreed that the EU should 
aim low on cutting greenhouse gases, and failed again to agree any 
concrete commitment towards reducing Europe’s appalling waste of 
energy.ö 

Mr Blair and Mr Chirac were full of praise for the handling of the 
summit by Mrs Merkel, who faced strong opposition to her climate change 
ambitions from several nations, not least in eastern European countries 
such as Poland, which still rely heavily on fossil fuels. 

But she was determined to give herself the best possible leverage on 
members of the G8 to persuade them to follow suit and prepare a 
postKyoto global framework for cutting harmful emissions. 

President Chirac described the outcome as “one of the great moments of 
European historyö. He said: “It was not easy, but Mrs Merkel achieved it 
with lots of intelligence and brio.ö 

Key to any new global deal will be the United States, where Congress 
refused to ratify the Kyoto protocol, but also China, India and Brazil, 
which were all excused Kyoto targets because they were classed as 
developing nations in the 1990s. 

The EU deal allows Mrs Merkel to challenge other global players to match 
the EU’s commitment — with the extra pledge that Europe will go further 
and cut emissions by up to 30 per cent if others are prepared to follow 
suit. 

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