Gimmick Green

I will occasionally point out stupid things that pop up daily in Europe (not always Germany as the culprit).

This week....the EU met and a commission came out with the new country targets for greenhouse gases.  The new emission sheet?  Well....it had a curious waiver of sorts built into it.  After 2020 (just six years away)....there is no more of the country-by-country numbers that everyone was always fearful of violating or being labeled as a failure.

The new gimmick?  There's a target, and you just try to meet that target.  No bad-boy lists or public display of negative numbers or failed emissions.

Why the change?  Most everyone is waking up and realizing that the marvelous success stories they had after Kyoto....were mostly because they had gone onto infrastructure improvements in the 1970s and 1980s.  Older plants from the 1940s and 1950s....were being shut down, and most of the plants built in the 1980s/1990s....were a delightful help at the right moment.

Now?  The only way to jump-start another infrastructure period and better emission controls...would rely upon two methods.

Method one.....you punish everyone and tax them for violating emission's goals.  That means more hefty taxes on top of what they already pay.  If you wanted inflation issues and economic dark times....this would be the way to go.

Method two.....you tax folks more and demand infrastructure changes which lead into higher costs for everyone, and lighten the pocketbook of regular workers.

Both methods mean serious economic consequences.  Over the last decade....folks have gotten smarter and figured out most of the gimmicks.  They aren't happy about spiraling inflation, or hefty taxes, or higher utility bills.  Folks tend to vote down political parties now that support such tactics.

So the EU commission did the next best thing.  They talked up the evils of emissions.  They put some numbers down, and talked of the success of fighting emissions to the press.  And they left everyone a backdoor to exit where nothing has to be met.  The news media and environmental folks will talk of the great things from the EU commission, and how they've saved the planet once again.

Gimmick by gimmick....the system works....in a failed sort of way.  And we appreciate that.