Eastern Europe May Block Green Lobby For Good

Poland is lobbying its neighbors on the European Union's less-affluent eastern edge as it seeks to block efforts by the regional group to sharply reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, arguing that the planned cuts will hurt economic growth and fuel inflation. The European Commission has drafted a proposal to slash carbon-dioxide output by 2050 to levels so low that Polish officials say they would virtually rule out the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity. Warsaw vetoed the plan at a meeting of EU environment ministers Friday, and Polish officials say they are now starting to gain the support of its neighbors including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania in a bid to block the initiative permanently. --Marcin Sobczyk, The Wall Street Journal, 13 March 2012