Poland Blocks EU Endorsement on Climate Change

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Dow Jones

Poland Blocks EU Endorsement on Climate Change
Friday, June 15, 2012 As of 3:13 PM

Poland on Friday prevented the unanimous endorsement by the 27 European Union countries of a strategy document setting out paths to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, in yet another move showing the country's opposition to any progress in the EU climate change agenda.

"Poland believes the European Union needs a deeper debate about its long-term energy policy," the Economy Ministry said in a statement outlining its June 15 decision. "Energy efficiency is the backbone of long-term energy-climate policy, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions in the most cost effective manner," the ministry said.

"It is not possible to reach consensus on this issue at this time," said Martin Lidegaard, Denmark's minister for energy and climate who led the negotiations. He also said during a meeting with his peers in Luxembourg that only one country opposed it. A diplomat said that nation was Poland.

Friday's veto is the latest in a series of rejections by Poland to any endorsement, even with vague wording, of EU strategies aimed at setting the 27 countries on track to meet a 2050 indicative goal of cutting CO2 emissions by as much as 95% from 1990 levels.


Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303822204577468521154349852.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[naaman fletcher]

1. But what about Poland?

Oh yeah, they are just the proxy for the US in the EU.

[Ezlivin]

2. *Insert Polish Joke Here*

These things write themselves.

Sheesh. Step into the 21st century, you know?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

5. I've never understood Polish jokes

This is not a criticism of you. But having lived for awhile in Europe, I've never understood American Polish jokes where Poles are depicted as crude individuals. In Europe, Poles have been considered cultured and well-educated people. There are stereotypes in Europe about various ethnicities of course, but if anything, Poles are usually stereotyped as drunkards, not uneducated oafs. Maybe the American stereotype has something to do with the impoverished and uneducated Poles as having been those who primarily came to America as immigrants, but I'm not sure.

[emilyg]

7. I am Polish - thank you.

[malthaussen]

11. I think your instinct is correct

Most of the waves of immigrants that came to the US were impoverished, and whatever education they might have had was irrelevant if they didn't speak English. In the mid-19th Century, Germans were considered stupid, lazy, and cowardly in the US, because they were the largest wave of immigrants at the time. Each succeeding wave -- Irish, Italian, Polish, etc, were thought of in the same way. The only group to largely escape this form of prejudice was the Jews, but that was simply because the hatred of Jews trumped any hatred of their nationality. Instead of being considered stupid and lazy, they got labelled sneaky and conniving.

I may be wrong, but I think the Central European immigrants (lumped together as "Poles" in the US -- we hardly recognize the differences among Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and the other Central European states) were the last major wave from Europe, hence the stereotype as dumb and foolish never moved on to a fresh group.

This blue-sky speculation on my part only applies to European immigrants, not Asiatic ones.

-- Mal

[dipsydoodle]

13. Everyone needs a fall guy

Much, much less so these days but go back 30 years or so and the UK's equivalent was Irish jokes.

[emilyg]

6. This Pole says

glad you controlled yourself.

[Ezlivin]

9. Yowza

No slander intended at all.

Apologies and good night to you, fair citizens.

[MADem]

3. Well, nobody's gonna forget Poland, now, are they?

Were they paying back Dubya and his oil pals for the Wee Cowboy's "concern" about them a few years back?

[bread_and_roses]

4. Look to the beam in our own eye

How anyone in the US can make fun of another Country's recalcitrance on effective emissions actions is beyond me.

[KamaAina]

8. And Poland's chief export (besides vodka) is?

Um, that'd be coal.

[FarCenter]

10. Coal deposits of Poland

The in recent time most important coal basin is the Upper Silesian located around the town of
Katowice in the North, Cracow (East) and the Czech border (South). The Upper Silesian Coal
Basin covers an area of about 7,400 km² in southern Poland and in the Ostrava-Karvina
region in the Czech Republic. The Polish part is about 5,800 km². It is the most important coal
basin of Poland and also one of the largest in Europe. Up to 30% of the deposit is explored by
recent mining operations. The reserve deposits cover 23% and the perspective areas cover
about 27% of the whole area. At the moment over 80% of coal deposits in Poland occur in
this area.

http://www.geo.tu-freiberg.de/oberseminar/os07_08/Gerald_Volkmer.pdf

[SylviaD]

12. Why is anyone surprised? Poland, 75% energy from coal. Full stop. n/t

[Event-Horizon]

14. ...last laff

.....Good work Poland, abstain now and you'll be able to buy te rest of Europe withen 20 years for pennies on the doller