Tribewanted: Vorovoro

Thought two of these articles were quite interesting:

EU introduces controversial emissions goals.
In continuing coverage from Wednesday’s briefing, the Wall Street Journal (1/24, A8, Forelle) reports that the European Commission “set individual country targets for renewable-energy use, a critical step in a plan to have 20 percent of the European Union’s (EU) energy come from renewable sources – such as wind, solar and biofuels – by 2020.”

The Financial Times (1/24, Bounds, Barber) quotes European Commission president José Manuel Barroso, saying that “the proposals would give Europe more energy security and make it less dependent for oil and gas supplies ‘on regimes that are not our friends.’” Barroso “promised special treatment for heavy industries, which say higher costs would drive them out of Europe to areas with laxer controls.” Additionally, importers could “be required to buy the same carbon emission allowances for non-European goods that EU manufacturers will themselves have to purchase.”

Still, “there was skepticism and disappointment in equal measure,” with industrial leaders warning that the measure “would make Europe less competitive compared with countries that do not face such constraints,” the Christian Science Monitor (1/24, Rice-Oxley) notes. On the other hand, “Green advocates expressed disappointment that the measures did not go far enough, particularly in light of commitments made at global talks in Bali last month.” Carbon import tax may provoke trade war. In a related article, the Financial Times (1/24, Beattie) cites officials and lawyers warning that EU and U.S. “[p]lans to force importers to pay the same greenhouse gas emission charges as domestic producers could provoke a trade war of retaliation and litigation.” These plans “are intended to prevent production shifting to laxer regimes abroad after countries impose carbon controls.” But even though “supporters argue they will comply with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT),” the “affected countries such as China and India are likely to resort to litigation or retaliation.” India’s ambassador to the WTO, Ujal Singh Bhatia, said that “the dispute settlement mechanism in [the] WTO would face serious challenges and create divisions along North-South lines.”

Abu Dhabi outlines plans to build world’s first zero-carbon city.
The AFP (1/23, Abou-Ragheb) reported, “Construction work on the world’s first zero-carbon city housing 50,000 people in a car-free environment will begin in the oil-rich” emirate of Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), next month, according to the developers. Khaled Awad, director of the Masdar project’s property development unit of the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (ADFEC), said that, in addition to having “no carbon footprint,” Masdar City “will offer the highest quality of life possible for its residents.” In the city, “which will be run entirely on renewable energy including solar power to exploit the desert emirate’s near constant supply of sunshine, people will be able to move around in automated pods.” They are “like a horizontal elevator. You just say where you want to go, and it takes you there,’” project’s director said of the pods. Notably, “Abu Dhabi sits on most of the UAE’s oil and gas reserves, ranked respectively as fifth and fourth in the world.”

Walt’s addition:
strangely enough, a majority of the labor force in the UAE comes from pooverty level workers from India and Asia who live in slums that lack the basic infrastructure required for healthy lives…