EU Waffles On Kyoto Sometimes I get the feeling that this whole Kyoto thing was rigged against the US all along. Germany got a target year of 1990 - the last year of East German existence - so all they had to do was close some Soviet-era factories that were belching toxic death and they met their target. France switched to more nuclear power so they easily met their emissions target while risking nothing except nuclear destruction - good luck getting that stunt by American environmentalists. It seems there are only 4 countries in Europe meeting their Kyoto goals. So Kyoto ia pretty much pancaked before it even gets going. So now Europeans have to decide how important the environment is to them. Germany is still the largest emitter of "greenhouse" gases in Europe. Yet Germany was slapped around by France when they asked to defer the timeline for their final plan. The French can be smug because they switched to environmentally friendly nuclear power - and by environmentally friendly I mean they ship their nuclear waste to Africa. So what is the solution? I say encourage more cheating. The EU wants to set up an official trading system that would allow companies to buy and sell permits to emit greenhouse gases, starting in 2005. Each government would be given emission allowances which could be traded in a market system. A company could either meet a target or else purchase a "credit" from cleaner companies and keep on polluting. This sounds like a terrific idea because clean companies, like software makers, could sell their pollution credits to the polluters. Is it good for the environment? Not at all ... but this is about slapping around the US, dammit, not the earth. Article Here