Dear Socialized (and Freezing) Europe
From the desk of George Adair on Thu, 2006-01-26 10:42
Having been away for a while I am not sure if this article is a result of jet lag, deja vu, or gastronomically induced hallucinations from a wonderful lunch (with Elaib and Paul) the other day in Edam:
Russia promised Wednesday to increase gas supplies to freezing European customers, and blamed Ukraine for shortages that forced several countries to consider drastic measures such as suspending some industrial operations. [...] Gazprom chief executive, Alexei Miller, said in televised comments “Ukraine is continuing to take gas that is being exported to Europe.”
The truly disingenuous radar went off on this quote:
The Russian industry and energy minister, Viktor Khristenko, was more blunt: “One should not be resolving one's own problems at the expense of neighbors, especially near and dear Poland, which is freezing.”
Funny enough this occurs against the backdrop of a continued desire for a risk-free existence by the socialized citizenry of Europe:
Future EU energy policy could be based on boosting nuclear power and oil and gas stocks as well as research into new fuels in line with a French blueprint, but most EU citizens don’t want nuclear power a new Eurobarometer survey [pdf] shows [...] with just 12 percent of people saying the EU should develop nuclear power options [...]. [M]ost respondents across Europe said they would prefer Europe to push for more solar and wind power and to spend cash on research into new fuels instead.
Solar and wind power are nice supplements but as the main source, good luck!