FOR over a decade, Germany has been the poster-child of environmentalists demanding action to curb global warming. It has closed coal mines, pioneered wind power and dramatically improved energy efficiency. In the process, it has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 17 per cent from 1990 levels, the baseline year for emission targets set by the Kyoto protocol.
So there was horror this week when Angela Merkel’s government called a halt to further cuts. The country’s environment ministry announced that it wanted to issue almost as many carbon dioxide emissions permits for industry for the 2008 to 2012…
