Reply #4: UK proposing big cuts. NYT: Britain Sets Strict Targets for Greenhouse Gas Emissions [View All]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/business/global/18carbon.html?_r=1

Britain announced on Tuesday some of the world’s most ambitious targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, calling for a reduction of 50 percent by 2025.

Chris Huhne, the secretary of state for energy and climate change, said the measures would be aimed at weaning the country off cars that pollute and at encouraging new industries. But he added that the commitment would be reviewed in 2014. If other members of the European Union had not adopted stricter targets by that time, Britain could be allowed to emit more during the mid-2020s.

The proposal goes much further than the E.U. goal of cutting emissions 20 percent by 2020, and would represent speedier progress than that of other economies of the same size. The announcement lifted optimism among scientists and policy makers that fighting climate change remains viable even as economies continue to show, at best, feeble growth.

The E.U. climate action commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, said Tuesday that the measure was “an outstanding example of strong willingness to act despite difficult economic times,” and that Britain was seizing “a huge economic and innovation opportunity that will make its economy more competitive in the future.”