The President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, is quoted in The Daily Telegraph today criticising some of the more intrusive, negative approaches to fighting climate change. He supports practical measures to improve the environment, but disagrees with some of the intrusive approaches being suggested.
He says that: “Cheap air travel is a great thing for our civilisation. When we think now that people have the freedom to circulate instead of being confined to a small territory, it is great progress”. He argues against measures on climate change that intrude on individual’s private lives - so the proposal made by the UK Government’s Sustainable Development Commission that the UK should seriously consider making individuals hold a personal carbon allowance card is a big no-no. Unfortunately, according to the UK’s Department for Farming and Rural Affairs, the scheme “remains one of the options the [UK] Government is continuing to explore”.
In addition, he eloquently put the case for individual freedom from his own experiences in Portugal: “I was 18 years old when a democratic revolution came to my country. Before we could not read the books or listen to the music we wanted. I am radical on these matters. If there is an excess of freedom, it is better to have excess than less.”
Tags: carbon emissions, climate change, Department for Farming and Rural Affairs, Jose Manuel Barroso