Cross posted from Prometheus
What happens when targets for carbon dioxide reduction run up against economic realities? A decision by the EU last week provides one answer:
EU member states are ready to grant automakers a three-year delay until 2015 to reduce the CO2 emissions of their new vehicles, in light of the global economic crisis, negotiators said Saturday.
During a meeting Friday of representatives of the 27 nations, "a consensus was reached" on pushing back the original 2012 deadline to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, one of the negotiators said.
Several colleagues confirmed his remarks, as European automakers grapple with bloated inventories and falling sales brought on by the credit crunch and a wider economic downturn.
The lesson here is one that we have suggested on many occasions. While politics and technologies are related like the chicken and the egg, securing political agreement on meaningful targets and timetables for carbon dioxide reductions will occur after technologies are available and costs are certain, not vice-versa.
Der Spiegel has a very interesting article on the dissonance in Europe over the auto industry and carbon emissions.
