Merkel's Climate Protection Agenda Faces Industry Pressure. Commentary, Economist, June 24, 2008. "If Angela Merkel is to leave a legacy, she would probably like it to be in the field of climate change. The German chancellor has positioned herself as Europe's chief climate defender, backing a 40% cut in Germany's greenhouse-gas emissions between 1990 and 2020. This week her party, the conservative Christian Democratic Union, declared that 'sustainability' would be its 'guiding light' and climate protection a 'core goal.' But with the transition from intent to action, she is losing a bit of her zeal. The government's second climate-protection package, announced this week, sets higher energy-efficiency standards for buildings and boosts road tolls for lorries, especially gas guzzling ones. But the tougher standards apply only to new buildings (or to those undergoing major renovation)... And the linking of a car's tax to its carbon emissions is to be put off to 2010... A group of energy-intensive industries has just warned that if the EU goes ahead with plans to make them pay for carbon-emissions certificates they will be rendered uncompetitive. As 2009's national elections approach, Ms Merkel will find it increasingly difficult to ignore such squeals. But there are two reasons for hope. One is that high energy prices alone will force conservation. The second is that Ms Merkel is still steely enough to resist pressure for cutting energy taxes, which would blunt the energy-saving impulse from higher prices. That may not be a legacy, but it's a start."
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