Another Sign the EU is Bent on Suicide

So the response of the EU to the financial crisis caused by many of its member states running up too much debt is to cripple its industry and raise taxes all in order to fight a non-existent problem.

Europe is caught in the grip of relativism and cultural amnesia. The culture of death is spreading its tentacles. Europeans are not having enough babies to maintain the population. There is a passive posture of appeasement and submission to Islam in the name of securing peace and safety. Now, in the midst of economic crisis global warming inspired anti-industrial and anti-capitalism fanaticism, we have a move to hurt fragile economies.

From the Times Online comes a story entitled: "EU sets toughest target to fight global warming."

Europe will introduce a surprise new plan today to combat global warming, committing Britain and the rest of the EU to the most ambitious targets in the world. The plan proposes a massive increase in the target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in this decade.

The European Commission is determined to press ahead with the cuts despite the financial turmoil gripping the bloc, even though it would require Britain and other EU member states to impose far tougher financial penalties on their industries than are being considered by other large economies.

The plan, to cut emissions by 30 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020, would cost the EU an extra £33 billion a year by 2020, according to a draft of the Commission’s communication leaked to The Times.

The existing target of a 20 per cent cut is already due to cost £48 billion. The Commission will argue that the lower target has become much easier to meet because of the recession, which resulted in the EU’s emissions falling more than 10 per cent last year as thousands of factories closed or cut production. Emissions last year were already 14 per cent below 1990 levels.

Business leaders fear that thousands of jobs could be lost and energy bills could soar. Carbon taxes on road fuel, heating and other sources of emissions could be introduced, with proceeds reinvested in renewable energy products.

The EU’s present policy is to wait for other countries to commit themselves to equivalent action on their emissions before raising its target to 30 per cent “as part of a genuine global effort”. But after the failure of the Copenhagen climate summit, a global deal on cutting emissions is now unlikely to be agreed until the end of next year.

Connie Hedegaard, the Climate Commissioner, will make the case for the EU to commit itself unilaterally to a 30 per cent cut, to inspire other countries to follow suit and accelerate the development of low-carbon industries.

. . . snip . . .

The plan could raise tensions in Britain because the Liberal Democrats promised in their manifesto to adopt the 30 per cent target “unilaterally and immediately” but Conservatives suggested they would oppose such a move.

The draft Commission document raises the possibility of trade wars by suggesting EU industries could be protected by imposing border tariffs on imported goods from non-EU countries with less stringent emission controls. The tariffs would be introduced with a requirement for importers to buy emissions permits.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change, where Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat, is Secretary of State, said the Government did not yet have an agreed position on whether the EU should unilaterally adopt the higher target. “They haven’t got further than the coalition agreement so it’s unclear at the moment,” a spokeswoman said.

Jeremy Nicholson, director of the Energy Intensive Users Group, said: “A unilateral move to 30 per cent would damage the European economy at a time when we can ill afford it.”

Neil Bentley, director of business environment at the CBI, said: “Talk of moving to 30 per cent is premature because it seems unlikely that we will get a global deal this year.

This is infuriating and it affects you and me. For example, my stocks are down this week after just making it back to the level they were at prior to the recession because of the turmoil in Greece and the loss of confidence in world economic growth. The whole world is being placed at risk by the global warming alarmists pressuring governments to impose punitive taxes on industry and therefore pushing down growth and further increasing the debt that is now threatening the world economy.