EU policy goals and U.S. values

To follow up on the outcome of the meetings of the EU last week, I turned to the Presidency Conclusions, published by the Council of the European Union on march 14. In the Climate Change and Energy section, I found a summary of the goals and assessments made during the summit. In a nutshell, the EU hopes to agree on a package of proposals "before the end of 2008 [to] allow for their adoption within the current legislative term, at the latest early in 2009." As far as creating a new kyoto... "The objective is to secure an ambitious, global and comprehensive post-2012 agreement on climate change at Copenhagen in 2009 consistent with the EU's 2°C objective."

I was particularly interested in how the EU plans to ease its member countries into the transition to a low carbon economy, as fear of this transition has seemed to be a major impediment to action on reducing carbon emissions in the United States. According to the report, the EU has identified the main challenges of the transition to be maintaining: "sustainable development, competitiveness, security of supply, food security, sound and sustainable public finance and economic and social cohesion."

To address these challenges, and the effects they will have on the economy, politics and citizens, the EU compiled a list of policy goals:

• developing coherent R&D and innovation policies at European and national levels;
• unlocking the business potential of eco-industries and developing a sustainable
industrial policy and sustainable and globally competitive lead markets, while taking into account the impact of Energy and Climate Change measures on competitiveness;
• promoting a sustainable transport system which allows Member States, in the
framework of EU policies, to take necessary measures to combat climate change
effectively;
• considering a review of the Energy Taxation Directive to bring it more closely into line with the EU's energy and climate change objectives;
• improving energy and resource efficiency in all sectors;
• informing the consumer about the efficient use of energy in order to tackle social
impacts and opportunities of Energy and Climate Change.

Of these goals, those which speak most powerfully to me are: "unlocking the business potential of eco-industries" and "informing the consumer about energy use and opportunities of Energy and Climate Change". I think that once these two key components are identified on a national scale, then the rest will follow.

To clarify, however, I think that (at least in the U.S.) the consumer needs to be informed not only about efficient energy use, but first and foremost, the consumer must be able to identify with some deeper impetus for making life-style changes to stop global warming. Even after a consumer is acquainted with the potential opportunities for economic development (inherent in transferring to a low carbon economy), they may still, out of inertia, not change their habits. In order to change their habits, they must first identify with some value associated with a low carbon economy (think Shellenberger and Nordhaus). Perhaps there has already been a shift in values in the European Union, whereby consumers are ready to take risks (and maybe even make sacrifices) for reducing total carbon emissions. In the United States, however, this formidable barrier must still be crossed before we can begin to realistically consider policy options like those listed above.