The UK's greenhouse gas emissions fell by 8.7 percent from 2008 to 2009, with CO2 falling 9.8 percent -- the biggest dip since 1980. While this is great news, the reason is unfortunately not a major growth in renewable energy of environmental policies, but the correlating economic recession.
As the UK economy sank into a recession, heavy-emitting industries like construction or transport lost a lot of business and subsequently stopped emitting so much greenhouse gas. A similar benefit to the economic recession happened in China where air pollution dramatically decreased with the downturn.
The good news is that if the UK government and corporations capitalize on this head start towards their emission-reduction goals, hitting the target of a 35 percent reduction by 2020 and more aggressive targets later on will be much easier and possibly ahead of schedule.
via Guardian
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written by Lynn, February 01, 2011
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written by @n@rkist, February 09, 2011
quit w/the Gore thing, it's a faux arguement & entirely irrelavent. your own conflict of interest stems from pretzel logic
wind is in use in europe right now. will be the energy source in the near future. nat gas is a filthy faux green source, why anyone would want, except for govt subsidy, to shift to another hydrocarbon energy source is only insanity. try to beat wind powers ROI.
yes, why not mandate ? we're killing ourselves & the planet, free market (joke) capitalism would have us believe that competition will give the cure. fat chance ! the profit motive has done naught but sicken this earth.
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