The European Union, which has spearheaded efforts to curb global warming, is set to adopt a change of focus in response to concerns over costs and the impact on companies in economically depressed Europe. Under the change, the European Union will prioritize the supply of energy at affordable prices over cutting greenhouse gas emissions which impose burdens on industries, in a turnaround of the region’s energy policy, an EU official said Saturday. EU leaders will decide on the shift in energy policy at a meeting Wednesday. The change reflects requests from businesses in the 27-member zone amid the prolonged economic slump triggered by the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, the official said. --
Kyodo News International, 18 May 2013
“The European Commission is already in ‘do nothing’ mode on climate change, and it will obviously put off a decision on ambitious targets,” the official said on the European Union’s post-2020 goals. The change in policy comes as some European companies are moving to shift operations out of the region to avoid increasing costs to meet the emissions-cut goals, and amid a decline in emission trading launched in the region in 2005. --
Kyodo News International, 18 May 2013
Hope is fading for a global deal to regulate the airline industry's greenhouse gas emissions ahead of a fall deadline, even though failure could push the industry back to the brink of a trade war over the European Union's emissions trading system. --Allison Martell,
Reuters, 19 May 2013
Global temperature increases as a result of increased carbon dioxide levels in the Earth’s atmosphere are likely to be lower than previously thought, an international research team has found. The Oxford University-led study found that a predicted doubling of CO2 concentrations, expected to occur later this century, is likely to raise global temperatures in the short term by between 1.3C and 2C. Previous estimates, based on climate data from the 1990s, predicted steeper rises of up to 3.1C. --John Ross,
The Australian, 20 May 2013
There is little doubt that the damage being done by climate-change policies currently exceeds the damage being done by climate change, and will for several decades yet. Hunger, rainforest destruction, excess cold-weather deaths and reduced economic growth are all exacerbated by the rush to biomass and wind. These dwarf any possible effects of worse weather, for which there is still no actual evidence anyway: recent droughts, floods and storms are within historic variability. The harm done by policy falls disproportionately on the poor… The strong possibility that climate change will be slow and harmless must be taken seriously before we damage more lives, landscapes and livelihoods in its name. --Matt Ridley,
The Times, 20 May 2013
Introducing a mandatory minimum distance between houses and wind farms would mean “the entire country [of Ireland] will be ruled out for wind development”, it was suggested at a government meeting last year. Senator John Kelly and Willie Penrose, a Labour TD, have proposed replacing them with legislation setting down a mandatory minimum distance between turbines and houses of at least 500 metres, and possibly more depending on the size of the devices. --Colin Coyle,
The Sunday Times, 19 May 2013
Energy bills are rising so steeply that they could overtake mortgage repayments in parts of Britain in just five years’ time, the chief executive of supplier, First Utility, has claimed. Ian McCaig issued the stark warning as he said energy policies must be reviewed to minimise the impact on bills and said consumers should think about turning down their heating to reduce costs. Critics have said that the Government’s environmental policies on windfarms and energy efficiency schemes, for example, are adding unnecessarily to the cost of bills. --Emily Gosden,
The Sunday Telegraph, 19 May 2013
Tony Abbott would prepare for a double-dissolution election within five months of taking office if parliament blocked the repeal of the carbon tax, under a 12-month action blueprint to transform the nation’s environmental laws. --Graham Lloyd,
The Australian, 18 May 2013
