Reducing CO2 Emissions The Japanese Way

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Taro Aso announced what he called "extremely ambitious" greenhouse gas emission cuts of 15%. Did you hear about the manga campaign in Nikkei to get him to make even deeper cuts, such as 25%?

Aso stressed that Japan's mid-term target of 15% has been calculated solely on domestic energy-saving efforts, unlike those set by the US and Europe, which include emission rights purchased from other countries. The 14-15% reduction compared to 2005 levels translates to about 7-8% reductions to 1990 levels... The EU reductions compared to 2005 levels are about 13% and the US about 14%, according to Naoto Katase, NHK World: he was even told that "Japan's proposal is unlikely to be welcomed at this point."

Mr Aso, you could have done worse, and a lot better.

Treehugger: Japan: "Extremely Ambitious" 15% Emissions Cut

Comments

Pandabonium said…
I read they were afraid that deeper cuts would hurt small business. Umm, won't small business be hurt even more when crops fail, sea levels rise, and storms destroy homes? At that point, deep cuts will look like cheap insurance and they'll be thinking "if only we had...."
3:32 pm, June 11, 2009
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