Europe's low-carbon plan going nowhere fast

Seems like only yesterday that Europe was full of brave talk about a low-carbon future (well, 18 days ago, anyways).

About the same time, Van Jolissaint, Daimler-Chrysler's chief economist, told a breakfast meeting at the Detroit auto show how he thought Europeans were being a bunch of nervous Nellies on climate change. He reserved particularly harsh words for the Stern Report, which argues it's cheaper to fight climate change now than in the future.

An excerpt from the Jan. 10 BBC story:

In response to a question from the floor, he said that global warming was a far-off risk whose magnitude was uncertain.

He said that from an economic point of view, it would be more rational to spend lots of money on today's other big problems, and only make small and limited changes in policies relating to global warming, such as a slight increase in gasoline or carbon taxes.


Airlines and factories are being urged to help cut global warming
Mr Jolissaint was particularly scathing about the Stern Report, which urged governments to take urgent action now, arguing that it would be much cheaper to act, rather than face a $10 trillion cost of climate change of not doing anything until later.

Mr Jolissaint said the report, written by a former adviser to UK Chancellor Gordon Brown, was based on dubious economics and did not include a discount rate. Until recently Sir Nicholas Stern was the second permanent secretary at the UK Treasury.

Chrysler's chief economist said his German colleagues at DaimlerChrysler's headquarters in Stuttgart and other professionals in Europe viewed global warming "with much more alarm than we do".

He called on Europeans to deal with climate change "in a step-by-step, rational way, and not play much Chicken Little", referring to the US children's story in which Chicken Little runs around in circles saying "the sky is falling".

If nothing else, Mr Jolissaint's remarks illustrate the yawning gap between mainstream opinion on climate change among the educated elites of Europe and America.

But they are also consistent with the cynical view held by some in the US environmental lobby that announcements by car companies about the future development of green vehicles are nothing more than window dressing.

The BBC followed up with a Jan. 12 story: EU plans attack on car emissions.

However, check out this Jan. 24 BBC story: EU stumbles on low-carbon road:

Environmentalists have expressed grave concern that the European Commission could be about to drop plans to ensure that new cars produce a quarter less carbon dioxide by 2012.

The Commission had been expected this week to announce plans to force car makers to meet this tough target, despite warnings from the industry that it would push up prices and put jobs at risk.

The move would have been a concrete step towards the "post-industrial revolution" the Commission called for two weeks ago, to tackle climate change.

But sharp disagreements within the Commission have led to the postponement of the announcement, and environmentalists fear the plan will not survive in its original form.

Officials say Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso still favours ambitious legislation - but green lobbyists say they have privately heard the opposite.

It's worth reading the whole story. Some very good charts and whatnot, if you're into that sort of thing -- and who isn't? :)