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...Praise the Lord and pass the sauerkraut, the Europeans are figuring out that you can't power successful economies with unicorn farts.
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 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...
But in the future, European climate and energy policy may be limited to just a single project: reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Commission plans also set no new binding rules for energy efficiency.
In addition, the authority wants to pave the way in the EU for the controversial practice of fracking, according to the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The report says the Commission does not intend to establish strict rules for the extraction of shale gas, but only minimum health and environmental standards.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Only The Green True Believers Are Surprised
The citizens of first-world countries want reliable, reasonably-priced power, and solar and wind just aren't going to cut the mustard:
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I'll shock you, Darren, by agreeing ... almost. There is a place for solar ... In Sacto, if your house faces the right way? solar panels can pay your power bill, and more. But yes... inefficient ... and, like any international agreements, difficult to enforce: everyone has an incentive to cheat. It's nice not to have pollution ... so for the same reason I don't want people to smoke in bars, I also don't want factories to pollute ... but you don't impose a technology, you impose a standard of cleanliness you're okay with, then let technology and the firms figure out a way to do it.
The problem inherent in this imposition of a standard of cleanliness is that those who do the imposing would become hysterical at the thought of have any degree of accountability for the outcome of their standard.
The European Greens who've driven up the cost of electricity to the point that it imperils Germany's ability to compete in the export market aren't in the least troubled by the prospect. As far as they're concerned their performing their moral duty and those opposed to their ideas are, by implication, immoral. Who cares what they think, right?
But its even worse for the Euro Greens then even this story encompasses.
Spain's cutting back on the lush subsidies they used to entice people to buy solar cell arrays. The deal was the owners of the installations would get a nice, fat check from the government but that's coming to an end because the cupboard is bare. Lots of Spanish folks are well and truly screwed because they bought the arrays on credit against the certainty of government subsidies.
Portugal zeroed out its wind power subsidy last year putting a screeching halt to big wind power project destined for the Atlantic ocean.
The Swedes are jacking up the cost of their hydro-power electricity exports to Denmark necessary due to the wildly fluctuating nature of wind power. They've got the Danes by the short and curlies but more then that the Swedes don't want to be put in the position of effectively subsidizing Denmark's wind power conceit at the cost of the Swedish citizenry.
Should be interesting to see how fast the enviro-left collapses here in the U.S.
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