Submission + - Europe to Ditch Climate Protection Goals, Fracking To Follow (spiegel.de) 4
cold fjord writes: Spiegel Online reports, "The European Commission wants to forgo ambitious climate protection goals and pave the way for fracking ... Commission sources have long been hinting that the body intends to move away from ambitious climate protection goals. ... At the request of Commission President José Manuel Barroso, EU member states are no longer to receive specific guidelines for the development ofrenewable energy. The stated aim of increasing the share of green energy across the EU to up to 27 percent will hold. But how seriously countries tackle this project will no longer be regulated within the plan. As of 2020 at the latest — when the current commitment to further increase the share of green energy expires — climate protection in the EU will apparently be pursued on a voluntary basis. ... With such a policy, the European Union is seriously jeopardizing its global climate leadership role. ... In addition, the authority wants to pave the way in the EU for the controversial practice of fracking ... The report says the Commission does not intend to establish strict rules for the extraction of shale gas, but only minimum health and environmental standards."