Pave: Global Warming Presented By The EU

Le jour 251 de Sarko

Greetings! If you are new to global warming we extend a warm welcome. Please use the coat check for your hats, gloves, muffs, scarves, boots, sweaters, topcoats, parkas, pea coats, anoraks, and thermal blankets. There are quite a lot of you, so to keep our little congeries' carbon footprint as small as possible, we ask that you not mouth breath. Be considerate, manage your effluvia. Exhale once for every two inspirations. And please, no poots. Bathroom breaks are by lottery, so hold onto that ticket stub. If you are a shedder or a scratcher, we ask that you collect your scabs, dandruffs, and assorted exuviae before leaving -- and remember, recycle. Let's keep the environment neat as a pin. The meeting room is Gaea too.

All right then. Let's get started, shall we? Welcome, welcome to the EU. Thank you for coming. Please be sure to stop by the gift shop after the presentation. [Pause. Looks out over the self-asphyxiating huddle.] Perhaps you are here today because you desire the facts. Perhaps you have come to us by way of a desire to make a difference, in a small personal way or maybe something more intimate. Sorry. Can't help you on either count, but rest assured we have amassed the finest body of political doubletalk since the EU talked Iran out of weaponizing uranium (oh, and this beauty).

[Nods approvingly.] But we'll let our presentation speak for itself. OK, lights! [The room goes dark illuminated only by a projector beam and the throw-off from the following slides.]

I am convinced that we are going to bring the United States into Kyoto, even if it doesn't want to.

Serge Lepeltier,
then-Ministre de l'écologie et du développement durable,
declaring French resolve for a cleaner planet Earth
and French sway over America
PARIS December 7, 2004 (AFP)

[Click.]

Europe must retain a leading role in the post-Kyoto negotiations. It must also consider the introduction of a “carbon tax” on products from countries that refuse to take action against global warming after 2012.

Then-Jack, Now Ex-Jack,
declaring French resolve and EU leadership
for a cleaner planet Earth
PARIS January 5, 2007 (French Embassy)

[Click.]

EUROPE LOOSENS EMISSIONS TARGET
TO PROTECT ECONOMY
January 10, 2007 (Bloomberg)

[Click.]

At the instigation of France and the United Kingdom, and with the wholehearted encouragement of the [EU] Commission, the European Union is showing the way by committing to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by a factor of four between now and 2050. ... We must build world environmental governance.

Then-Jack, Now Ex-Jack,
declaring even greater French resolve and
still greater EU leadership for a cleaner planet Earth
"Citoyens de la terre" : Conférence internationale de Paris
pour une gouvernance écologique mondiale
PARIS February 7, 2007 (Élysée)

[Click.]

STUDY SAYS FRENCH C02 TARGET
UNATTAINABLE
PARIS October 9, 2007 (AFP)

[Click.]

[A] great nation like the United States has the duty to not obstruct the fight against global warming but, on the contrary, to head this struggle because what is at stake is the future of all humanity. France will make this struggle its first struggle.

Sarko,
Président de la République,
declaring the utmost supernational French resolve
for a cleaner planet Earth and French sway over America
PARIS May 7, 2007 (NYSun)

[Click.]

Do not expect us to compromise on European interests. Both our international credibility and credibility before European Union citizens depend on fulfilment of the [carbon dioxide emission] targets.

Jose Manuel Barroso,
President of the European Commission,
declaring EU resolve for a cleaner planet Earth
(infra)

[Click.]

EU NATIONS CHAFE AS THE CLIMATE CHANGE BILL COMES IN

BRUSSELS January 20, 2008 (AFP) — Less than a year after challenging the world to a race to stop global warming, European Union nations are bickering over who should carry the biggest burden in the EU's push to cut greenhouse gases.

Now starkly aware of the cost their commitments could imply, the 27 nations have been lobbying the European Commission hard as it prepares to unveil Wednesday a package of measures meant to achieve Europe's climate goals.

... French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote to its chief Jose Manuel Barroso imploring him to calculate the targets based on the amount of pollution currently produced per inhabitant, rather than on gross domestic product (GDP). France wants greater consideration taken of its wide use of nuclear power.

[In the dark. Quietly chuckles.] Oh, Nico, Nico...

Just nine months ago, EU leaders agreed with great fanfare to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent by 2020, against 1990 levels, which they judged to be the best way to stop the planet heating by two degrees Celsius.

As an incentive to the world's major polluters, they offered to go 10 percent better, cutting emissions by 30 percent over the same period if others were prepared to match it.

The leaders also set a binding target for renewable energy to provide 20 percent of Europe's needs by 2020, compared to 8.5 percent currently, and agreed that this should be achieved by some countries doing more than others.

An EU member state is always ready to support some other member state doing more. That's important.

... In the end, the Commission's calculations are bound to be modified, as the proposals are picked apart by the EU nations and the European Parliament over the next several months.

And while the targets will be legally binding, any action taken to fine a country that fails to respect them by 2020 would take years, dragging through EU infringement procedures and the courts.

And no sooner said than done. [Click.]

EU TO SET EASIER CO2 REGIME FOR HEAVY INDUSTRIES
January 21, 2008 (Reuters)

Lights, please! Alright, alright. Show's over. Let's pick ourselves up. Remember, EU gift shop on the way out. Oh! The winning bathroom break is ticket holder N°27. See the nice girl at reception for a key and ration of toilet paper squares. Now the rest of you -- Shoo! Scat! Hurry home before there's an accident. Remember, EU gift shop. Just by the exit. American Express or euros.

PFFT (What is this?): Global warming crisis management in less than 10 slides 4½ | Rayonnement français 0

Posted by Damian at January 21, 2008 01:30 PM