A War the EU Doesn't Want Over Global Warming

The EU has proven to be an amalgamation of all the bad policies of its member states and contains none of the good. Now they are threatening America and China:

America and China face trade protection measures from Europe if they fail to join a global climate deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol, EU leaders will caution at their summit in Brussels today.

Nations that refuse to curb greenhouse gases will be told that they face “appropriate measures” — code for trade sanctions — if they try to gain a competitive advantage by continuing to allow cheap, high-pollution production.

EU leaders are particularly concerned to try to stop big companies relocating from Europe to countries that refuse to join a post-2012 climate change agreement in order to avoid the EU's tough CO2 targets.

The two-day European Council will concentrate on financial issues, including calls for greater transparency to head off catastrophes such as the collapse of Northern Rock, as well as a voluntary code of conduct for powerful sovereign wealth funds.

The only way a Kyoto-like agreement gets past is if a Democrat wins and even then, it's doubtful a more business-friendly Hillary will sign it. Obama probably would but would get heat and that's if the Senate even sent such an agreement to him.

But the underlying question remains; does the EU and it members really want a trade war with the US and China? Yes, I see the concern of businesses leaving for nations that have less oppressive environmental regulations but that seems like an extreme reason to threaten a trade war that will hurt the EU far more than the US or Red China.

Kyoto was an underhanded attempt to hurt American business and we studied it and rejected it. The Chinese flat out ignored it because they have no problems with dumping millions of tons of pollutants in the ground, water and air. China is us in the late fifties and early sixties pre-Love Canal and Superfund. Chinese relations with the third world are growing exponentially and revenue there could easily be made up with those nations offsetting any EU trade sanctions.

This is another attempt by the EU leadership to twist the arms of nations they feel are not sufficiently drinking the global warming Kool-aid and it will backfire tremendously if pushed farther.