In the week when the EU attacks the USA again for not doing enough to curb its carbon emissions, we learn?? that last year US carbon emissions fell by 1.3% despite good growth in the economy, whilst EU emissions rose by 1- 1.5%!! That’s the difference between the technology approach in the US and the regulatory approach in the EU.

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It is high time the EU apologised for trying to claim the green moral high ground when its own policies have failed. Its carbon trading scheme has allowed Germany to increase its carbon emissions, whilst the UK has had to buy permits from abroad to meet its requirements. The continent has exported permits (because they created too many) and we have exported money (because we created too few) . The UK government looks on helplessly, whilst we are hit by the scheme and others make money out of it.

??It is rank humbug for the EU to lecture the rest of the world for generating too much carbon, whilst themselves failing to hit targets they claim credit for setting. It is also time we had a UK government that would understand there has to be a global appproach to this problem, otherwise the few who take it seriously just end up exporting their industry to the many who do not.

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Of course the Uk could cut its carbon back quickly, if it exported its main energy using industries to other countries, driven out by the high price of energy and by the carbon taxes imposed in the UK. It would not, however, make one jot of difference to the overall carbon output of the world, merely change who generated most of it. What is the point of that? How much more damage does the EU and the UK government wish to do with its carbon scheme, which does?? not even succeed in curbing overall EU emissions, let along global ones?

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