The German coalition government is planning to withdraw from its 2020 climate change goals. Notwithstanding public protest, Federal Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) has abandoned the requirement of cutting 40 percent of CO2 emissions compared to 1990 levels by 2020. “It’s clear that the [2020 CO2] target is no longer viable,” said the vice-chancellor according to information obtained by SPIEGEL, adding: “We cannot exit from coal power overnight.” --
Der Spiegel, 16 November 2014
Germany’s Vice Chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, has indicated that the country will abandon its commitment to reducing CO2 emissions by 40 percent by 2020, from a 1990 base level. In doing so he has won the ongoing clash with his own environmental minister Barbara Hendricks over energy policy, telling her that he will tolerate no further resistance to the change of direction, according to Der Spiegel. --Donna Rachel Edmunds,
Breitbart, 17 November 2014
German chancellor Angela Merkel has urged all nations to commit to cutting carbon dioxide emissions, warning that climate change does not respect borders. It follows Prime Minister Tony Abbott's snub of a call from US President Barack Obama to invest in a climate change fund. --
Sky News, 17 November 2014
Federal Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) says he is convinced that Germany can reach its 2020 climate targets without phasing out coal power generation. "We can achieve the 40 percent," Gabriel claimed on Sunday in Berlin. "Climate protection vs economic success or economic success vs climate change - we must not let that happen." Earlier, Der Spiegel had quoted Gabriel from an internal memo as saying: "Is it clear that the [2020] target is no longer viable." The target is a 40 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared to 1990. According to expert opinion the target can only be achieved with a gradual shutdown of old coal plants. –-
Deutsche Press Agentur, 17 November 2014
Germany's flagship green energy policy is in tatters, according to a new report by the consultancy firm McKinsey which says many of its goals are "no longer realistic". Angela Merkel's government has committed to cut CO2 emissions by 40 per cent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. To achieve that, McKinsey argues, Germany would have to cut emissions by an average of 3.5 per cent a year. But so far, they have only fallen at an average of 0.7 per cent a year, leaving Germany so far behind it would have to increase emissions cuts by a factor of five to reach its target on time. "Despite the massive expansion of renewable energies, achieving the key objectives of the energy revolution in Germany by 2020 is no longer realistic" says the report. --Justin Huggler in Berlin,
The Daily Telegraph, 2 September 2014
Germany's environment ministry has admitted the country is likely to fall short of its future greenhouse gas emissions targets by seven percent. Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks has said that Germany is on track to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by just 33 percent in comparison to 1990 levels by the year 2020. This falls short of the country's previously-stated aim of 40 percent. --
Deutsche Welle, 23 July 2014
It is a dangerous thing to be an enemy of President Obama’s. It can be fatal to be his friend. Substantial passages of the Brisbane speech were designed by Obama or his speech writers to damage the Australian government. Given the Abbott government has given the US every support in the Middle East, done everything it can to sustain the US presence in Asia, and agreed with US objections, made by Obama himself, its capricious and reckless treatment by Obama emphasises Washington’s tin ear with allies, a problem it has had for the whole of Obama’s second term. --Greg Sheridan, The Australian, 17 November 2014
Almost everything you’re told about Barack Obama’s “breakthrough” deal with China on global warming is a con. But, God, listen to the spin. President Obama told ecstatic students in Brisbane on Saturday that last week’s deal to limit carbon dioxide emissions would help save our Great Barrier Reef and “I want that there 50 years from now”. Red China was going green, agreed the warmist ABC, since “the most concrete target is to have 20 per cent of China’s energy produced from renewable sources by 2030”. Hear all that? Every claim is actually false, fake or overblown, as so often with the global warming scare. China won’t cut emissions for another 16 years, and Congress will oppose Obama. And reality check: Labor and the Greens actually oppose the technologies the US and China most rely upon to cut emissions. Oh, and still the planet refuses to warm, for all Obama’s happy yammer. –Andrew Bolt,
Herald Sun, November 17, 2014
In its annual World Energy Outlook, the Paris-based the International Energy Agency forecast that global energy demand will increase 37% by 2040. Though global resources are adequate to meet the growth in consumption, significant investment and political action are needed to ensure the resources are developed, the IEA said. Investment of $900 billion a year in upstream oil and gas development is needed by the 2030s to meet projected demand, according to the International Energy Agency. --Sarah Kent,
The Wall Street Journal, 12 November 2014
