The View From 1776

According to the latest Pew poll, global warming is dead last among the priorities of people surveyed.

Leaders, in both parties, advocating “green” are jumping onto a train that is slowly backing out of the station, onto a sidetrack.  European nations’ voters, finally having become aware of the devastating economic and life-style costs inherent in the “green” agenda, are forcing politicians to return to reality.  The message is drop, or drastically reduce, the man-made global warming fairy tale.

A few headlines:

GERMANY VOWS TO RESIST EU CLIMATE DEAL IF JOBS ARE THREATENED
AFP, 8 December 2008
http://www.spacedaily.com/2006/081208094648.upxfcgbz.html
 
BERLIN, Dec 8 (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed Monday to resist any European Union deal on climate protection this week that might jeopardise jobs.

RISING ANGER: 10,000 METAL WORKERS PROTEST AGAINST EU CLIMATE BILL
Xinhua, 2 December 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/03/content_10447605.htm

BRUSSELS, Dec. 2 (Xinhua)—About 11,000 workers from the steel
industry in European countries gathered on Tuesday in Brussels to
protest the European Union’s climate change policy which they fear might make them lose their jobs.

GERMAN AUTOMAKERS DENOUNCE EU COMPROMISE ON CO2 EMISSIONS
AFP, 3 December 2008
http://www.physorg.com/news147455131.html

The German automobile federation VDA slammed on Tuesday an EU compromise on rules to cut CO2 emissions from new cars, saying it ignored the sector’s current crisis.

EUROPE TELLS OBAMA: NO WE CAN’T!
EurActiv, 19 November 2008
http://www.euractiv.com/en/climate-change/fresh-doubts-raised-december-eu-climate-deal/article-177319

EU countries may agree before the end of the year on the basic principles and structure of an agreement on the European Commission’s energy and climate package, but it is unlikely that a deal will be finalised, an ambassador of one of the bloc’s 27 member states told EurActiv.

Efforts to forge an agreement on the package have run into opposition from a group of ‘new’ member states, led by Poland, who say the plans could wreck their industries and lead to massive job losses, particularly in the context of economic recession.

CLIMATE CHANGE MOMENTUM FADING: ASIA-PACIFIC SURVEY
AFP, 19 November 2008
http://www.spacedaily.com/2006/081119171128.moufx8ea.html

Climate change is fading as a priority in the Pacific Rim as the gloomy state of the global economy takes precedence, a survey of opinion leaders showed Wednesday.

CANADIAN ADVICE FOR OBAMA: GREEN SHIFT REJECTED BY VOTERS, LET’S DITCH IT!
Canwest News Service, 19 November 208
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=ad7d56c4-8eae-42ec-b374-7259afd86312

Juliet O’Neill

OTTAWA - Liberal leadership candidates Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff would ditch the Green Shift carbon tax, outgoing leader Stephane Dion’s signature policy, on grounds it was rejected by voters on election day.

REPORTS: EU CLIMATE BILL MAY COST GERMANY UP TO 300,000 JOBS
AFP, 25 November 2008
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20081125-15721.html

Germany could lose more than 100,000 jobs if the European Union makes industries pay for pollution rights that are free at present, a press report said on Tuesday, citing an unpublished economy ministry report.

LIBERAL ENVIRONMENT MINISTER CALLS FOR DELAY OF EU CLIMATE TARGETS
Nordwest Zeitung, 25 November 2008
http://www.nwzonline.de/index_regionalausgaben_artikel.php?id=1850456

Hans-Heinrich Sander (Liberal Party), the environment minister of the German federal state of Lower Saxony, has called for a delay of adopting the EU climate targets by five to ten years because of the global financial and economic crisis. “In face of the current crisis, economic and social factors are as important as ecological aspects,” Sander said. “In a situation that threatens serious ramifications, politicians have the responsibility to approach problems with more flexible.”

WAKEY, WAKEY: UK CLIMATE BILL ‘COULD COST BILLIONS’
BBC News, 25 November 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7747167.stm

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website

The UK’s Climate Change Bill - due to become law this week - may represent a poor deal for taxpayers, a former Conservative minister has said.

Peter Lilley MP says government figures show the bill’s costs up to 2050 may far outweigh its benefits.

The worst-case scenario could put a net cost of £10,000 on each UK household, he says in a BBC News website article.

ITALY TO VETO NEW EU CLIMATE TARGETS IF NO CHANGES
Reuters, 25 November 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed2/idUSTRE4AO82E20081125?sp=true

By Robin Pomeroy

ROME (Reuters) - Italy will veto new European greenhouse gas limits for 2020 unless it gets concessions, its environment minister said on Tuesday, suggesting the EU might wait a year before adopting new climate change policies.

EU CLIMATE POLICY IN DISARRAY: ITALY HARDENS VETO THREAT
AFP, 1 December 2008
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gQqWTAIbUZ79XJ2mVHp11sYCMC0w

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Italy will veto ambitious European Union plans to tackle climate change unless changes are made to make the package less costly to industry and consumers, a minister warned Monday.