Rhein on Energy and Climate

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US Congress Starting Work on Climate Legislation

April 29, 2009

Spurred by the ruling of the Environmental Protection Agency declaring C02 emissions a risk for human health and welfare, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has begun work on what might become one of the most ambitious pieces of legislation passed by Congress. Its basic contours would resemble EU legislation, in particular a cap and… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

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Zero Energy Buildings in the EU by 2019?

April 27, 2009

On April 23, 2009, the European Parliament has called for all new buildings respecting zero energy and emission standards, as of 2019. This would be feasible through super-insulation combined with renewable energy covering the remaining energy needs, e.g. for heating, cooling and warm water. Buildings account for 40 percent of global energy consumption and C02… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

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What Future for the Automobile Industry?

April 24, 2009

The global economic crisis is taking its toll on what has been one of the leading industries of the 20th centuries: automobiles. For the first time since World War II it been gripped by a dramatic fall of production and profits, and the imminent prospect of insolvency of GM, the symbol of the global automobile… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

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USA rules on climate change welfare hazards

April 23, 2009

On April 17, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a provisional ruling that the concentration of six green house gases in the atmosphere constitute a risk for human health and welfare and that the combined emissions of C02, CH4, N2O and FsH HFCs from new motor vehicle engines contribute to further concentration of green… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

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Humanity has Enough of World Conferences against “Racism”

April 20, 2009 should be remembered as a black day in UN history. At the opening day of the “Fourth World Conference against Racism” some 40 delegations left the meeting, protesting against outrageous statements by the Iranian President Ahmadi Nejad against Israel. The UN and the international community could have avoided the public relations damage… » read more

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An Unconventional Approach to Copenhagen

April 15, 2009

The news from the climate front is extremely worrying. After 10 days of debate on formalities and secondary issues the Bonn preparatory meeting has ended without offering much hope for a substantive outcome in Copenhagen at the end of year. The gulf between what humanity needs to do to prevent a dramatic deterioration of the… » read more

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Obama takes the lead on global climate policy

April 1, 2009

President Obama has done what many citizens across the world following the preparations for the Copenhagen Climate Conference had hoped for: take the lead. He has invited the heads of government of the 16 main emitter countries of green house gases and the UN Secretary General to a meeting at the White House, April 27-28th,… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

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Rhein on Energy and Climate

Thoughts on energy and climate, the Mediterranean and whatever comes to mind.

Eberhard Rhein has devoted most of his life to European and global issues. During the 1980s and  1990s,  he served successively as chef de cabinet to the Commission VP in charge of external relations and director responsible for the Mediterrranean and Arab world.

For the past 10 years he has focused more on global environmental issues.

He also gives a course on economic  policy at the "Mediterranean Academy for Diplomatic Studies" in Malta. He is the author of many articles on EU, Mediterranean and international subjects


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