Eu Drafts Plan to Battle Global Warming, Sets Binding Targets for Switch to Green Energy

 EU Drafts Plan to Battle Global Warming, Sets binding Targets for Switch to Green Energy.

 Source of Article: Associated Press

 Date of Article: March 09, 2007

 European Union leaders drafted an agreement promising to take the lead in fighting global warming by setting binding targets to cut greenhouse gasses. By the year 2020, the European Union wants to ensure that 20 percent of their power comes from renewable energy and also that 10 percent of Europe's cars and trucks run on biofuels made from plants. The European leaders hope that their efforts and commitment to taking on the sudden climate change will influence the other leading polluters (the United States and China to name a few). The final draft represents a compromise between the nations that had demanded mandatory targets on clean energy. This is due to Poland and Slovakia, who are nations that said due to not having enough money to meet such high targets for alternatives, that they would prefer to stay with cheaper but more polluting options such as oil and coal. The draft also allows the 27 members of the European Union to have individual targets for cutting pollution. Furthermore, the draft contains a reference to the role of nuclear power. It stated that each EU nation could decide whether to use nuclear power, but also notes that nuclear energy could contribute to reducing greenhouse gasses. It also stressed the need to improve nuclear safety. The leaders also agreed that EU nations should forge a common ground in dealing with the main foreign supplies of energy. They hope to import more from former Soviet nations and Africa to reduce the reliance on oil and gas supplies. The major EU economies have committed to cutting greenhouse gases by 8 percent by 2012, and want the United States to sign the Kyoto Protocol treaty. The U.S. is afraid that it would hurt the economy and said that the treaty should apply to Asian economies.

 I feel that the draft of the agreement will, over time, influence other countries to sign and it could cut down global warming at a faster rate. I think it will take more time for the U.S. to sign the treaty because of the fear of slowing our GDP by slowing our use of C02. The U.S. is making certain contributions to battle global warming, but I feel