Gaseous Europe

Better hurry up with those British carbon-emission ration cards that Ron posted about yesterday. The European Environment Agency is reporting that the EU's carbon dioxide emissions rose by 1.5 percent in 2003 in the 15 member-states of the "old" EU, after falling in 2002. In fact, Britain was one of the major offenders (along with Finland and Italy). A spokesman for Friends of the Earth obliged the BBC by calling the new figures "shocking."

The Beeb passes along this quote, too: "The blame goes mostly to national economy and industry ministers, who constantly block any attempts to introduce mandatory targets for renewable energies, energy efficiency rules or fuel consumption standards for cars." Also, "cold weather was blamed for a rise in the use of fossil fuels to heat homes and offices."