GWPF Newsletter: EU Abandons New 2030 Climate Target

EU Commission Fears Job Losses In Car Industry

In this newsletter:

1) EU Abandons New 2030 Climate Target
Deutsche Press Agentur, 28 September 2018 
 
2) Climate Target Are Too Strict: EU Commission Fears Job Losses In Car Industry
Handelsblatt, 26 September 2018 

 
3) EU Climate Goals Missed: Germany Must Pay Two Eastern Europeans  To Billion Euros 
Focus, 21 September 2018
 
4) The Truth About Wind Energy: ‘The Readily Available Wind Power Capacity In Germany Is Less Than One Percent Of Installed Capacity’
Klaus Stratmann, Handelsblatt, 27 September 2018
 
5) UK Coal Revival Reverses Gains In Green Power Drive
Financial Times, 28 September 2018
 
6) A Balanced View On Climate Policies To Be Presented At The Portsmouth Conference
Digital Journal, 13 September 2018 
 
7) Lawrence Solomon: Canada — And The World — Abandon Green Energy Agenda 
Financial Post, 28 September 2018 

Full details:

1) EU Abandons New 2030 Climate Target
Deutsche Press Agentur, 28 September 2018 



EU Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete has given up on plans to officially raise the European Union’s 2030 climate target.

Contrary to what has been announced, Cañete has not submitted the proposal to the EU member states, the German Press Agency in Brussels has learned. The idea was met with opposition by, among others, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German industry. Other EU countries also rejected it.

Global climate policy is in crisis since US President Donald Trump quit the Paris climate agreement of 2015.

Translation GWPF

Full story (in German)
 
See also GWPF coverage of how the green lobby finally lost the climate battle in Brussels
 
2) Climate Target Are Too Strict: EU Commission Fears Job Losses In Car Industry
Handelsblatt, 26 September 2018 



The European Commission has reservations about the climate goals of the European Parliament. Around 59,000 jobs in the automotive industry are endangered - and they could arise elsewhere.

Brussels - The EU Commission has warned against overly ambitious climate targets for European car manufacturers. "Existing jobs in the car industry threaten to be lost if the transition (to new engines) is too fast," the Brussels-based EU Commissionwrites in a new impact assessment on the proposed EU targets for manufacturers' CO2 fleet emissions by 2030.

Industry and the IG Metall union too have warned that a forced switch to alternative vehicles could result in the loss of many jobs in the production of internal combustion engines.

According to the Commission's calculations, some 59,000 jobs could be eliminated by 2030 should the European Parliament's Environment Committee prevail with its proposal. Just over two weeks ago, MEPs called for car emissions to be reduced by 45 percent by 2030 compared to 2021.

Translation GWPF

Full story (in German)
 
3) EU Climate Goals Missed: Germany Must Pay Two Eastern Europeans  To Billion Euros 
Focus, 21 September 2018

The failure to meet European Union climate targets will cost Germany billions. According to a report, the German deficit means the government will have to buy CO2 certificates from Eastern Europe for two billion euros.

While Germany is missing its climate target by just under three percent, countries such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovakia and Hungary are doing significantly better, according to a report by Wirtschaftswoche.

Apparently Berlin is already preparing to make the payments. A spokesman for Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) told "Wirtschaftswoche": "We would rather invest the money in climate protection and the modernization of the infrastructure in Germany."

Translation GWPF

Full story (in German)

4) The Truth About Wind Energy: ‘The Readily Available Wind Power Capacity In Germany Is Less Than One Percent Of Installed Capacity’
Klaus Stratmann, Handelsblatt, 27 September 2018

There are nearly 30.000 wind turbines in Germany. However, the latest figures prove that the available wind power capacity is negligible.



Berlin — The numbers are impressive: according to the German Wind Energy Association (BWE), 29,900 wind turbines have been installed in Germany.

Their share in German electricity production amounts to a considerable 18.8 percent. Their installed capacity is 56,000 megawatts (MW). Thus, within just over two decades, wind power has developed from a niche market to a pillar power generation.

On closer inspection, however, a blatant weakness is evident: Although 56,000 MW of installed capacity corresponds to 56 large coal power plants, the decisive contribution for the entire power generation system, namely the reliable contribution of wind turbines to electricity production, is disappointing: “The actual production figures show that the readily available wind power capacity in Germany is less than one percent of installed capacity,” says Oliver Then, Managing Director of the VGB PowerTech Association.

The association sees itself as a neutral technical discussion platform for planners, manufacturers and owners of all types of power plants. Oliver Then relies on recent research findings. They have been seen by Handelsblatt and will be presented shortly. VGB PowerTech has analyzed in detail the real wind power production in 2016 in Germany and other European countries like Great Britain, Denmark, Spain and Portugal.

The message of their findings is clear: even if the expansion of wind power is going to progress rapidly, there will always have to be back-up capacity, e.g. by fossil power plants. “Wind power inevitably requires system partners who together ensure supply and grid stability,” says Then.

Translation GWPF

Full story (in German)
 
5) UK Coal Revival Reverses Gains In Green Power Drive
Financial Times, 28 September 2018

Wholesale price of less-polluting natural gas is soaring a result. Coal burning for power generation by utilities is therefore likely to continue.

The world’s largest offshore wind farm, capable of providing electricity for 600,000 homes, was officially opened this month. Claire Perry, UK energy minister, hailed the Walney Extension, off the north-west coast of England, as evidence of Britain’s sustained push to cut carbon dioxide emissions through renewable power generation.

But on the other side of the UK, in the same week the Walney Extension was unveiled, the arrival of hulking ships chartered by commodity trader Glencore and carrying coal to the Port of Immingham on Humberside highlighted near term brakes on Britain’s pursuit of clean energy sources.

The combined 500,000-tonne cargoes underlined how demand for coal — one of the most polluting fossil fuels — in power generation by utility companies has rebounded in the UK in recent times, despite the government’s plans to eliminate its use by 2025.

Coal’s mini revival with the utilities has been driven primarily by a surge in the UK wholesale price of less-polluting natural gas — it reached a 10-year high this month. The rise has in turn highlighted vulnerabilities in the UK’s energy system, which has become increasingly reliant on expensive gas imports.

It became cheaper to generate power from coal than gas in late August, according to a report written by Iain Staffell of Imperial College London for the utility company Drax.

“It’s not a flash in the pan,” he said. “There could well be a whole season where coal is the baseline fuel [for power generation by utility companies]. We could be looking at the first year-on-year increase in emissions in six years.”

Full post
 
6) A Balanced View On Climate Policies To Be Presented At The Portsmouth Conference
Digital Journal, 13 September 2018 

Hampton, NH -- Climate and energy policies often foment some of the strongest political rhetoric and posturing in an increasingly global and connected economy, which rarely allows for a thoughtful discussion on these complex issues.

At The Portsmouth Conference this October in Portsmouth NH, however, Moderator Kevin Fay, Esq, said he looks forward to the opportunity to guide a discussion among some of the world's foremost experts and thinkers.

"Too often these days, communication in the policy arena gets lost," said Fay, Executive Director of the Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy and Executive Director of the Business Institute for Sustainability. "There are many who feel that effective communication means speaking louder, but rarely does that prove to be successful."

In bringing together experts from across the world to discuss policies that relate to climate, including their consequences, The Portsmouth Conference seeks to provide a useful forum for discussion on a complicated subject.

Noting he was intrigued at the invitation to moderate panelist and audience discussions at the conference, Fay said he accepted it with the intent to ensure all views are discussed and considered.

"I won't be driving toward a particular solution or viewpoint," he said. "This issue lends itself to many different approaches."

According to Charles McConnell, Under-Secretary of Energy in the Obama Administration, any approach to climate and/or energy policy must take into account the world's increasing human population.

"In the next 30 years, we will hit 10 billion people," he said. "We need to be cognizant that there are 1.3 billion people that have no energy--and out of the 3 billion we add in the next 30 years, 90% will be in underdeveloped countries."

According to Dr. Mikko Paunio, who holds a cabinet position at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health of Finland, current environmental policies must consider urban sanitary issues.

"Contemporary obsessions to conserve water and energy have had devastating consequences to the world's poor, as improved hygiene is key to control disease and under nutrition," he said.

Fellow conference panelist Florence Reed, Founder of Sustainable Harvest International in Maine and Partner of Regeneration International, will discuss agriculture's role in carbon mitigation. She supports policies that boost regenerative organic farming.

"We don't want to continue to do what we are doing, because what we are doing is not working," she said.
Regardless of anyone's respective viewpoints and/or backgrounds, Fay said looks forward to seeing whether panelists can discover any "common points of understanding."

"If as a result of this conference participants can find merits in the viewpoints of others--whether as allies or opponents--I will feel like we have accomplished a great deal," he said.

Seats are still available at The Portsmouth Conference
Hosted by Citizens Count, a NH-based, non-partisan public information platform with more than 200,000 members, the Portsmouth Conference takes place in Portsmouth, NH on October 18 and 19, 2018.

Although seats are still available for the conference, seating is limited. To purchase a ticket, visit theportsmouthconference.org.
 
7) Lawrence Solomon: Canada — And The World — Abandon Green Energy Agenda 
Financial Post, 28 September 2018 

Wind and solar have become the fossils of the energy industry; oil, gas and coal remain the fuels of the future

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s repeal of the Green Energy Act and balks by premiers of other Canadian provinces at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s climate agenda aren’t rearguard moves by Donald Trump wannabes. They are part of a worldwide trend rejecting renewables, rejecting climate change alarmism, and embracing coal and other fossil fuels.

Renewables and the high electricity rates they ushered in drove individuals into energy poverty and led industry to flee, putting the lie to the claim that wind and solar are the fuels of the future. Wind and solar, rather, have become the fossils of the energy industry; oil, gas and coal remain the fuels of the future.

China was once the poster boy of the renewable energy industry — just a few months ago Bloomberg stated, “China’s investment in renewables is leaving the rest of the world in its wake” thanks to its subsidy-driven growth. Now China has now begun to throw in the towel by cutting subsidies to renewables, an augur of the demise of investment in its renewables sector. With the cutting of subsidies to renewables in the EU, investment last year dropped to less than half of its peak six years earlier. Japan’s investment halved in just three years.

While China is pulling back from renewables, it’s plunging into coal. According to a BBC report this week, China is boosting its reliance on coal by 25 per cent through construction of hundreds of new coal-fired generating plants. Once completed, its incremental coal capacity will be equivalent to that of the entire U.S. coal fleet. Coal aside, China this year will become the world’s largest importer of natural gas, both via pipeline (up by over 20 per cent) and by ship (up over 50 per cent). It is already the world’s largest importer of coal and oil.

Germany, another renewable-energy poster child, is following the same unwinding, cutting subsidies to wind developers while upping gas imports and local coal. To extract that coal, Germany has decided to expand an existing open-pit coal mine, Europe’s largest, by subsidizing the razing of a 12,000-year-old forest. To round out Germany’s retreat from the demands of the country’s green lobby, it is relaxing regulations that would have required automakers to produce low-CO2-emitting vehicles.

Japan plans to remove its modest renewables subsidies while aggressively expanding fossil fuels — it is adding 40 coal stations to its existing 100. The U.K. is likewise turning from renewables, where investment is expected to decrease by 95 per cent by 2020, in favour of the development of the country’s immense shale-gas resources. And Australia is ending its renewables subsidy program altogether by 2020, giving its abundant coal resources a major lift.

The most consequential change of all, however, occurred in the United States, where the Democratic Party — adherents to the global warming orthodoxy — first lost control of the Congress and then the presidency to the Republicans under President Donald Trump, an outspoken critic of the global-warming lobby. When Trump abandoned the Paris climate accord in favour of coal and other carbon-based fuels, the world’s leaders rose up almost as one in outrage.

Today, with the U.S. having revived its coal industry, having become the world’s largest oil producer and having propelled its once-moribund economic growth rates past the others, those world leaders are following America’s lead while falling silent on Paris. The once-powerful United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, formerly a fixture in the news, is defanged and forgotten, having lost its U.S. funding and its relevance.

The decline of government funding for renewables follows years of public opinion polls that consistently show the public isn’t much fussed about climate change. Governments finally got the message that the green lobby wasn’t all-powerful. The most timid, least principled players in society — the corporate sector — may be next in showing some spine on the climate change file.

According to an internal memo leaked earlier this month, BusinessEurope, the EU’s largest employer association, intends to counter EU plans to tighten carbon-dioxide emissions at their expense, albeit ever so mutedly. If it carries through with its plans and actually dares to publicly represent the interests of its members, it will be one more sign that environmental NGOs and their enablers — the mainstream media — have lost their power.

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The London-based Global Warming Policy Forum is a world leading think tank on global warming policy issues. The GWPF newsletter is prepared by Director Dr Benny Peiser - for more information, please visit the website at www.thegwpf.com.