February 15, 2007
Do as we say, part two
As previewed on Tuesday, the European parliament passed its resolution on climate change on Wednesday, calling for a unilateral 30 per cent cut in carbon emissions below 1990 levels by the EU by 2020, higher than the 20 per cent sought by the European Commission: The sponsor of the resolution, Karl-Heinz Florenz, is certainly doing his bit. For a year he has been energy self-sufficient:
"It is an individual responsibility: Everybody has a roof over their head and this roof could have solar panels on." He has solar panels and a wood-fired boiler fuelled by deadwood from the wood on his farm. "I use no oil," he says proudly:
Florenz, who was chairman of the environment commitee until last month; also takes the train to Strasbourg from his home in Germany, just over the Belgian border:
Fellow promoters of his resolution had less to boast about. Fellow German Peter Liese has bought a VW Lupo low-emission car, which is being withdrawn from production because of poor sales.
British Conservative John Bowis says he was examining his carbon footprint. "If we don’t do it, someone else will," he said.
