Sometime I wish the American government “got it.” Europe is leaving us in the dust with there energy policy.

From the Europeans Unions plan for their energy future.

Europe’s energy landscape and climate is changing rapidly. The last eleven years have included the ten hottest since records began while the majority of the world’s glaciers are in rapid retreat. The current energy supply crises have highlighted our dependence on external sources of energy. The emission trading scheme means that climate change has been brought into the boardroom of every major company across Europe. Energy policy and climate change have ceased to be abstract ideas, it is about every day life.

On 10 January, the Commission put forward an integrated set of proposals to tackle climate change and create a new Energy Policy for Europe.

The aim is that the European Union leads the world in accelerating the shift to a low carbon economy. This needs to be done in a way which keeps Europe competitive in the global marketplace and in a way which increases Europe’s security. At the heart of this are ambitious but credible targets for further reductions in greenhouse gases beyond 2010.

The Commission proposed to cut its own CO2 emissions by at least 20% by 2020, with the objective of limiting global climate change to 2°C. This cut should be increased to 30% if an international agreement is reached. It also proposed to increase the share of renewable energy sources in the overall energy mix. It reaffirmed its commitment to improving the EU’s energy efficiency by 20%. This would make Europe the most energy efficient region in the world.
The Commission set out proposals to create a true Internal Energy Market with further action required to deliver these aims through a clearer separation of energy production from energy distribution.

By the time we all wake up and wonder where the oil and the coast line went the Europeans are going to be sitting pretty with their renewable based high efficiency low carbon economy. If America wants to remain the worlds super power it better start putting up some wind turbines.

America’s economic future depends heavily on moving towards a low carbon/high renewable/high efficiency economy. We could be leading the world in the manufacture of new high-tech renewable energy technology. We should be the leader in everything from wind turbines to solar panels to energy sipping computer to gas free automobiles. Instead we seem to be worried about anything but.