- - - - - FRANCE - - - - -

Chirac targets green voters with "ecology charter" France: May 6, 2001

ORLEANS, France - French President Jacques Chirac sought yesterday to lure green-minded voters in next year's national elections with a proposal that the public be granted a constitutional right to a clean environment.

The call for a broad "ecological charter" came as his likely leftist rival in the 2002 presidential race, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, faced a row in his coalition over the use of controversial taxes in environment policy.

Jospin's government has been attacked for its uncertain handling of weeks of flooding in the northern Somme valley region that has forced thousands to leave their homes and has focused public attention on the environment.

"We all have the feeling that apparently natural phenomena can be caused or aggravated by human action or inaction," Chirac was due to say in a speech released to the media ahead of a visit to the Loire Valley town of Orleans.

"The right to an environment that is protected and preserved (must be) considered on a par with civil liberties," he said, calling on parliament to draft a constitutional annex offering such guarantees.

Chirac renewed his support for the Koyoto protocol aimed at cutting the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming and warned the Bush administration, which rejects the accord, that the United States must pull its weight in reducing pollution.

He also urged a debate "without taboo" on France's reliance on atomic energy for over half its electricity, while noting that nuclear reactors helped save on greenhouse gas emissions.

IS CALL CREDIBLE?

While the Greens in Jospin's coalition have been the traditional party of ecology-minded voters, Chirac strategists believe the environment is becoming a dominant theme on which conservatives can score points.

Many first-round Green voters in March's town hall elections ignored party advice to switch their support to the main leftist candidate in the decisive second round, helping the right chalk up surprise victories across the country.

Victims of the Somme flooding - not proved to be the result of global warming - say authorities have been slow to mobilise mechanical pumps that are now alleviating the situation.

Aside for the call for a constitutional right to a clean environment, Chirac urged a "green audit" of all government policy based on ecological criteria and renewed a call for the creation of a powerful world environmental body.

As a long-time backer of nuclear fuel and the intensive farming methods now blamed by many for the spread of mad cow disease and the foot-and-mouth virus, Chirac may face a credibility hurdle with some ecologist voters.

Yet Jospin, who trails Chirac in polls ahead of next spring's presidential election, will have his pro-environment credentials tested on Friday during talks with the Greens party chief, Environment Minister Dominique Voynet, over the future of energy taxes aimed at curbing pollution.

She wants Jospin to affirm his previous backing for the levies after some in his coalition - including Finance Minister Laurent Fabius - said they should be ditched.

"I don't want to go on the warpath over this issue," she told business daily Les Echos. "But I do not imagine that he will not keep his word," she added.

- - - - - BRITAIN - - - - -

Greens warn Bush of opposition to come UK: May 17, 2001, reuters

LONDON - Britain's Green Party has warned U.S. President George W. Bush his plan to tackle the U.S. energy crisis would face a barrage of criticism at a European Union summit next month.

Jean Lambert, Green Party spokeswoman and European Parliament member, said on Friday Greens across Europe would martial their forces to blast Bush's energy policy.

"Bush's plans to increase drilling for fossil fuels and increase nuclear capacity are potentially disastrous," Lambert said at the launch of the Green's campaign for Britain's June 7 general election.

"He is taking the completely wrong direction and should be concerned with reducing demand for energy, not with producing more of it. We will certainly focus on Bush and his environmental policies at the summit in Sweden," Lambert said, referring to the Gothenburg meeting set for June 13.

While the Greens have yet to make headway in mainstream British politics, they are a political player in parts of continental Europe, and have become a potent force in Germany.

Bush, who has been slammed by international environmental groups over his plans to expand U.S. coal, oil and nuclear power production, is scheduled to attend the summit.

He has called his energy strategy a remedy to "the most serious energy shortage" since the 1970s.

But the European Commission unveiled its own strategy earlier this week to put environmental protection at the heart of all its policies and to make the EU the world leader in sustainable economic development.

Europe and the United States have locked horns over environmental policy since Bush pulled out of the 1997 Kyoto climate change deal in March.

European Commission President Romano Prodi will submit his paper, "A Sustainable Europe for a Better World", to EU Leaders at the summit.

The Green party, which is fielding 140 candidates in the campaign for the June 7 British election, is touting policies of fairer taxation, increased petrol duty and a ban on genetically modified foods.

Story by Jason Hopps

- - - - - BRITAIN - - - - -

Climate change march a success UK: May 7, 2001

Up to 1,000 people took part in a London march to protest at George W Bush's environmental policy. The Campaign Against Climate Change organised the rally, which started at the US embassy and finished at the Maldives embassy. The Maldives could be one of the first nations to be swamped if global warming causes the seas to rise. The CACC group is unhappy President Bush has reneged on the Kyoto agreement to cut greenhouse emissions. March organiser Chris Keene told Ananova: "It went very well. There were a lot of people there. It was very good-natured. There were people dressed up as Uncle Sam and someone dressed as the Grim Reaper. It signified the US bringing death to the world, which was very appropriate as that is exactly what he is doing."

- - - - - SWEDEN - - - - -

Sweden's energy agency advocates more windpower SWEDEN: May 18, 2001

STOCKHOLM - Sweden's energy agency recommended this week that windpower production should be expanded to 10 terawatt hours (TWh) annually in 10-15 years to boost green energy sources and cut greenhouse gas emissions. "The environmental advantages with windpower-produced power are great...The energy agency advocates that the expansion of windpower be focused to southern Sweden and at sea," Thomas Korsfeldt, chief executive of the agency, said in a statement. The agency said the project to expand the subsidy-dependent industry would cost the state about four billion crowns ($389.8 million) per year and involve building 2,000 wind turbines, compared with Sweden's already existing 500 plants that produce 0.6 TWh of total annual electricity production of 150 TWh. Building 1.5-2.0 megawatt turbines would boost Sweden's 0.6 TWh of windpower-produced electricity and an enlargement of the industry would not affect wildlife significantly, it said. The agency also suggested the windpower stations would be built in the southern regions of Halland, Blekinge, Gotland, Skane and Boshusland. In a reaction to the agency's report, the Industry ministry later said in a statement that an expansion of the industry required continued development of cheaper technology. Industry Minister Bjorn Rosengren said he would discuss with representatives of windpower industry future co-operation for the development of windpower in Sweden.

- - - - - DENMARK - - - - -

Danish windpower shares up on forecast EU: May 6, 2001, reuters

COPENHAGEN - Shares in Danish wind turbine makers Vestas Wind Systems and NEG Micon soared yesterday on a media report that the windpower industry would become a major contributor to Denmark`s economy. At 0855 GMT Vestas stocks traded at a one-month high of 400 crowns ($47.6), up seven crowns from Monday`s closing price. NEG Micon shares jumped 12 crowns to 354 crowns, while the Copenhagen Bourse`s top-20 index, KFX, in which both companies are constituents, was almost unchanged. According to daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten, an expert at the Danish state-owned research center, Risoe, forecast that wind turbines would supply 10 percent of the world's electricity demand in 20 years. With Denmark as the world's wind turbine manufacturing leader, the sector is likely to play as important a role in Denmark`s economy as the car industry does in the German and French economies, the paper said. "The two shares are pretty expensive at present if investors only want to hold the shares for a short period of time," one trader said. "But it is a good investment in the long-run, because the wind power sector will be a high-growth industry for the next 10 to 20 years," he said. Vestas is the world`s leading wind turbine maker, which holds a 40 percent stake in world number two manufacturer Gamesa Eolica, which is part of Spain`s Gamesa Group. NEG Micon is the world`s fourth-largest wind turbine maker.

- - - - - GERMANY - - - - -

Germany's MVV to invest in more biomass plants Germany: May 14, 2001

FRANKFURT - German utility MVV is to invest 500 million marks ($226.9 million) in biomass power plants over the next few years in a bid to benefit from renewable energy subsidies, the company said yesterday.

Spokesman Heinz Egermann told Reuters that MVV, which says it is Germany's ninth largest utility, was currently plannning four timber-based, wood-burning projects of 20 megawatts (MW) capcity each.

"We believe biomass power has a secure future after the recent ruling of the European Court of Justice in favour of Germany's law on subsidising renewable energies (EEG)," he said.

"The four new plants will become operational by 2003."

The new plant projects in Mannheim, Wiesbaden, Koenigs-Wusterhausen and Misburg would complement MVV's existing biomass plant in Ruhpolding and two others in Bad-Endorf and Dannenberg, which were scheduled to start this year.

Germany's EEG law in a landmark ruling in March was declared in line with European Union law, securing producers generous prices set by the state, but payable by energy consumers.

Because renewable energy avoids greenhouse gases emissions which are linked to climate change, the Court ruled that commonly shared environmental goals justified the subsidies.

MVV said in a statement the biomass section within EEG secured producers of power from biomass prices around 20 pfennigs per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the next 20 years.

"This is a solid economic basis for the operation of such plants," it said.

MVV, the only listed municipality of hundreds in Germany's energy distribution sector, has invested in a range of innovative technologies, including cogeneration plants and the powerline technology for internet access via power sockets.

reuters

- - - - - UNITED STATES - - - - - -

BPA to buy 150 MW of wind power in US Northwest UK: May 7, 2001

SAN FRANCISCO - The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) said on Friday it will buy 150 megawatts of power over 20 years from a proposed wind farm in eastern Washington state in an effort to provide an energy supplement to the region's huge hydro electric dams. Under a predevelopment agreement, the Portland, Oregon-based agency, which markets electricity from the 29 federally run dams on the massive Columbia and Snake Rivers, said it was working with Washington Winds Inc. to develop and build a 150-megawatt (MW) wind farm, the agency said in a statement. "This is one of several wind projects BPA is looking to acquire," BPA Acting Administrator Steve Wright said in the statement. "When the winds blow, we can save more water in reservoirs. When the winds are still, we can release the river's power. Wind farms add to our local renewable resources," he said. If all regulatory measures are approved, the first wind turbines could begin producing power in late 2002. Output from the Maiden Wind facility would be enough capacity to serve around 36,000 homes, BPA said. In recent months, the agency has been forced to reduce output from the region's hydro power dams - which normally provide up to 70 percent of the Northwest's electricity needs - due to one of the worst droughts in the Northwest in decades. BPA said it also reserved an option to purchase up to another 250 MW of power if environmental reviews succeed. Washington Winds will secure the necessary permits for the Maiden Wind Farm, while BPA will prepare an environmental impact report. Boise, Idaho-based Washington Winds Inc., a subsidiary of Pacific Winds Inc., owns and operates over 900 wind turbines in California. reuters

- - - - - AND THE GREAT HELLHOLE OF BUSH'S AND CHENEY'S TEXAS - - - - -

Ozone Watch Issued For Saturday US: May 14, 2001, reuters

The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission issued an Ozone Watch for the Houston-Galveston Brazoria area on Saturday. TRNRCC officials said that atmospheric conditions are expected to be favorable for producing high levels of ozone air pollution in the area. Elevated concentrations of ozone can act as a lung irritant. Individuals with chronic lung disease, such as asthma and emphysema, as well as the elderly and young children, are particularly sensitive to ozone and should attempt to avoid exposure. To avoid exposure, minimize exertion outdoors during the midday to early evening hours or stay indoors in an air-conditioned room during this time.

-- Find the Dinosaur (bush@kills.com), May 21, 2001

Answers

Let me know when any of these European countries actually get around to ratifying Kytoto within their own country. Until then it's so much hot air contributing to global warming. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

-- libs are idiots (moreinterpretation@ugly.com), May 21, 2001.

Let 'em mock. Let 'em lose.

Fortunately for Euro holders this Green news is little more than political sidesteping.

Liked especially the German biomass article. They are going to BURN it aren't they?

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), May 22, 2001.