Receding Blair Line

Blair government tried to weaken E.U. climate-change targets

The U.K. environmental community is all atwitter over revelations that senior officials in Prime Minister Tony Blair's government tried to remove tough greenhouse-gas reduction targets from the E.U.'s official climate policy. Specifically, they asked that language calling for 50 to 80 percent reductions (from 1990 levels, by 2050) be eliminated or replaced with the looser phrase, "significantly enhanced reduction efforts." A spokesbrit said the government supports big cuts, but wanted to complete a cost-benefit analysis before agreeing to "a figure plucked out of nowhere." Though the changes were ultimately overruled by other participating countries, U.K. enviros are fairly aswoon, dabbing their moistened eyes with hankies as they accuse Blair of betrayal. He's just doing it to accommodate the U.S., they say. His commitment to CO2 reductions is a lie. He said he cared. Hold us!