Halt to road construction part of ecological “new deal” for France
October 26th, 2007 by Jim JustNo more incandescent light bulbs. No more energy-wasting cars and televisions. No more drafty windows. And no more roads or airports.
All this and more is part of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s “green revolution.” On Thursday, he unveiled a mix of tax measures and investment pledges to put France in the vanguard of the war against global warming.
Sarkozy stopped short of proposing a carbon tax, but called for taxes targeting polluters and suggested the European Union to study in the next six months the possibility of taxing imports from countries that do not respect the Kyoto Protocol – the international agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions. He also proposed lowering value added tax on more environmentally friendly products and pledged to consider wider changes later.
Sarkozy also said the use of pesticides should be halved and that the commercial planting of genetically modified (GM) crops would be suspended.