Radicali.it - sito ufficiale di Radicali Italiani
Notizie Radicali, il giornale telematico di Radicali Italiani
cerca [dal 1999]


i testi dal 1955 al 1998

  RSS
gio 17 lug. 2025
[ cerca in archivio ] ARCHIVIO STORICO RADICALE
Notizie Radicali
Agora' Agora - 11 giugno 1991
The environment and energy saving

Vohrer, Lannoye and Jensen

(Reports of the plenary session of June 1991 in Strasbourg)

Tuesday, 11 June - Manfred Vohrer (G, LDR) opened the debate on three proposals, submitted by the energy and environment committees, which put forward ideas for achieving a higher degree of conservation and energy saving and limiting the adverse effects of economic activity on the environment.

It was important to include costs in the pricing of scarce resources which reflect replacement factors, he said, and to introduce tax incentives for environmentally friendly renewable energies such as wind and water power. At the same time polluting forms of energy based on fossil and nuclear fuels should be punished by penal taxation to pay for clearing up the atmosphere.

Paul Lannoye (B, Greens) agreed although he felt there was a pressing need for immediate action at an international level based on binding legislation. He suggested setting an EC green tax on fossil fuels adjusted to pay for the amount of carbon and sulphur that would have to be removed from the atmosphere but phased in over a period of ten years. In this way the true costs of each form of fuel could be measured.

Kirsten Jensen (Dk, Soc) told the House there was a need for a drastic reduction in pollutants such as C02 in the order of 75% by the year 2040. The best way of achieving this was through energy savings or reduced consumption and improved energy production. This can be acchieved by more use of small power stations tailored to local needs and generating sufficient electricity for combined heat and power use.

While welcoming in general the report by Mr Lannoye on energy and the environment, Gordon Adam (Northumbria, Soc) felt that there was an overly simplistic attitude to energy costs and that it was based too much on the fear of carbon dioxide and radiation. The Socialist Group differed here from 'Green' philosophy in that it had confidence in human ability to use and control energy, said Mr Adam. Before taxation is contemplated the regulatory framework must be strengthened to eliminate pollution, which should not just be seen as a new tax base, he said.

Madron Seligman (Sussex West, ED) warned that Parliament would lose all credibility if the extreme and what he felt were inaccurate antinuclear arguments in the reports were retained because nuclear power did have a vital role to play in energy supply.

Replying to the debate, Commissioner Carlo Ripa di Meana said account would be taken of Parliament's views during production of the Fifth Environmental Action Programme. Backing the need for a proper EC strategy on energy and the environment, he also favoured a new tax on energy and C02 emissions at EC level.

 
Argomenti correlati:
stampa questo documento invia questa pagina per mail