17 May 2011

NYT on UK Climate Policies: Rah! Rah!

Apparently the New York Times could not find a single person to raise questions about the UK's recent commitment to increasing its long-term emissions reduction targets, preferring instead to cheerlead:
Britain is poised to announce some of the world’s most ambitious goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions — a striking example of a government committing to big environmental initiatives while also pursuing austerity measures. . .

“This is an outstanding example of the kind of action by developed-world countries that’s needed to bring climate change under control,” said Bert Metz, an adviser to the European Climate Foundation, a group in Brussels that advocates lower emissions, and a former member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “It’s also really going to push the British economy in the direction of growth.”
Not shared with readers is the fact that the UK has badly missed its 2010 emissions reduction target, is expected to continue to miss its short-term targets and has set targets but not policies to achieve them.

Ah, details.