Redstate

Eurocrats listen to some rational argument, sort of

By Mark Kilmer Posted in Liberals — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tells us that we're all gonna die, but the usually wise and noble European Union has told them, in a genial manner, to get the hook.

From Deutsche Welle:

Despite failing to meet its own voluntary targets to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from new cars, big carmakers, in particular in the German auto industry, have succeeded in forcing the EU to lower its mandatory limits.

Being the DW is a of the lefty Europress, run by the German bureaucracy, the automakers have caveats thrust at them. They warn that "failing to move with the times could ultimately harm the industry." Later in the article, we learn that this warning came from Reinhard Bütikofer, chairman of Germany's opposition Green[ie]s. It was more a threat than a warning:

"The car industry has to watch out that it doesn't throw away its future," he said.

Bütikofer seems to be say that when he runs the world, he'll shut them all down. And a member of his college Maoist organization -- Communist Federation of West Germany (Kommunistischer Bund Westdeutschlands, KBW) – might know a little about the political effectiveness of crackdowns.

Read On…

A Greenie member of the EU Parliament seems to have called it correctly:

"By scaling back its proposals on CO2 emissions from cars, the Commission has once again confirmed that the bottom line of the German car industry takes priority over tackling climate change," Green member of the European Parliament Claude Turmes said.

According to IHT:

After fierce lobbying by European automakers, the 27-member [European Commission], the executive body of the European Union, endorsed a watered-down blueprint that would impose a limit on carbon dioxide emissions from new cars averaging 130 grams a kilometer by 2012. The initial proposal, which was shelved last week, set a target of 120 grams.

I don't know what effect either target has on the climate – or, for that matter, the ozone hole – but I doubt the commissioners do either. Does anyone? Is there an effect? Who elected these clowns?

Here is the opposition:

Sigrid de Vries, spokeswoman for the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, which represents 13 manufacturers including BMW, Volkswagen and Ford, said the compromise still placed an expensive burden on the automotive industry.

"The risk is that it will lead to a loss of jobs and production in Europe while making cars more expensive for consumers," she said.

Do the automakers not see that this is about something much bigger than the price the consumer, who has no voice in any of this, has to pay for an automobile? It is about 10 grams per kilometer by 2012, dammitall, and don't let anyone trick you into believing otherwise. Those 10 grams per kilometer by 2012 could mean the difference between something and something else!

It is refreshing to see that even in quasi-socialist Europe, reality can get in the way of the planners' schemes. Now let's put that IPCC report on the heap where it belongs; it already seems to be headed for the back burner.