Green Fade-Out:Europe to Ditch Climate Protection Goals
DPA
Europe may be backing away from its ambitious climate protection goals.
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.ANZEIGE
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 of 2020 at the latest -- when the current commitment to further increase the share of green energy expires -- climate protection in the EU will apparently be pursued on a voluntary basis.
Climate Leaders No More?
With such a policy, the European Union is seriously jeopardizing its global climate leadership role. Back in 2007, when Germany held the European Council presidency, the body decided on a climate and energy legislation package known as the "20-20-20" targets, to be fulfilled by the year 2020. They included:
- a 20 percent reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions;
- raising the share of EU energy consumption produced from renewable resources to 20 percent;
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