Europe, the big polluter

I often blast the US for not doing more to save our planet from the damaging effects of global warming, but this time I'm pointing the finger at Europe. This article from Energy Bulletin (originally posted on The Independent,) says that Europe is polluting much more than any other country in the world, except for the US of course, which pollutes twice as much as Europe:

The document highlights Europe's "ecological footprint", the estimated land area required to produce the resources each person consumes and to absorb the waste they produce. At five global hectares per person, the figure for the 25 EU member states is half of that for the US but larger than Japan and more than double the average for countries such as Brazil, China or India.

And the Union is not doing enough about it by far:

Europe is devouring the world's natural resources at twice the global rate.

Climate change on a scale unseen on the European continent for 5,000 years is now under way, according to the report, which warned yesterday that at current rates three quarters of Switzerland's glaciers will have melted by 2050.

The document points out that the four hottest years on record were 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2004, all within the past decade, which suggests things are getting worse at a faster pace, and that 10 per cent of Alpine glaciers disappeared during summer 2003 alone.

Jacqueline McGlade, the agency's executive director, said: "Without effective action over several decades, global warming will see ice sheets melting in the north and the spread of deserts from the south. The continent's population could become concentrated in the centre."

"Even if we constrain global warming to the EU target of a 2C increase, we will be living in atmospheric conditions that human beings have never experienced. Deeper cuts in emissions are needed."

The report's authors believe that individual behaviour needs to change but also urged reform of the taxation systems to ensure that polluters pay more, and naturally, when you point the finger at big money:

The recommendation for more use of the tax system to discourage waste provoked a political row last night. The agency report called for "a gradual shift of the tax base away from taxing 'good resources' such as investment and labour, towards taxing 'bad resources', such as pollution and inefficient use".

What a surprise, who would have ever thought that the bad guys would object at being taxed more just because they are the ones causing the bigger share of the problem. Are we crazy? Why don't we pay their taxes too, so they can go out and buy themselves another private jet or something nice like that.

Europe is definitely doing more than the US on this matter, but I'm hoping the next president, whoever he (or she) is, will try to better our image in the world and reduce our polluting levels, at which point even Europe will have to do better than what it's doing now, or risk taking that notorious number one spot.