HOIST ON THEIR OWN ISOLATIONISM:

Big Costs Are Hurdle to Climate Pact (CHARLES FORELLE, 12/06/09, WSJ)

The EU has led the industrialized world in pushing for a new treaty. Still, even Europe has had trouble sorting out climate financing. The U.S., which hasn't ratified the Kyoto Protocol and only recently made emissions pledges for Copenhagen, has made few strides.

Poorer EU nations -- some of which have lower economic output per capita than developing countries such as South Korea or Malaysia -- are loath to send money abroad. European industries are wary of supporting their Asian competitors.

In September, the European Commission proposed a blueprint for financing that pegged the total cost in developing countries at €100 billion annually by 2020. The leaders of the bloc's 27 nations agreed with the figure, but said only that the EU would pay its "fair share" of the total, without committing to an amount.

That followed fierce objections from Poland, which often leads negotiations for Eastern Europe, and which burns a lot of coal. "It is totally unacceptable that the poor countries of Europe should help the rich countries of Europe to help the poor countries in the rest of the world," Poland's finance minister said in October, according to wire reports.

Industry lobbies are also weighing in against it. The EU's €100 billion yearly tab is "not realistic, and will never be accepted by the member states," says Axel Eggert, the spokesman for Eurofer, the trade group for European steelmakers. Steelmakers want to "make sure that the financing is not a subsidy for our competitors," he says.

Environmentalists say the EU needs to step up in Copenhagen with firmer financing offers. They fear richer nations will dodge substantial payments -- jeopardizing a deal.

On the one hand, the Left wants us to not give a damn if these people even get to live in freedom but, on the other, expects us to pay to make their economies more modern than our own?

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 6, 2009 8:12 AM