Energy Saving News
EU President calls for Energy Savings over Job Cuts
SPANISH Prime Minister and rotating President of the European Union, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, stated that during ‘a serious economic crisis’ changes should be made through a ‘new culture’ of energy saving before requiring sacrifices from workers.
He made these comments on Tuesday at the Covenant of Mayors ceremony, which commits 1,600 European cities to go beyond the European Union's energy policy objectives in cutting CO2 emissions through greater energy efficiency and the production and use of cleaner energies.
‘In a situation of serious economic crisis, whenever we talk about cutbacks, adjustments, let’s not only think in terms of the ordinary people, the workers.
Let’s first think in terms of energy costs, which in most cases don’t imply efforts or sacrifices, but rather policy changes. In many European countries energy costs are a greater burden than labour costs,’ Mr Zapatero said.
The head of the Spanish Government called for improved energy efficiency in the EU through renewable energy sources, better links between European countries and an increase in the number of energy producers and distributors.
Over the past decade, European states have raised their level of energy dependence by nine points, to 44%, and have paid an additional 67 billion euros to producer countries. The sum is equivalent to all public resources spent on R&D in the EU in one year.
Zapatero emphasised that “when we save energy we become more competitive economically, enabling more resources to be spent on innovation”.
“I call on all governments to back public policies to save and make efficient use of energy (...) which means opting for renewable energy sources and a new and more democratic model of energy and electricity generation and distribution that will open the gates to changes in industry and energy”.
He said he favoured “increasing the number of energy producers” through renewables, thereby reducing the "concentration of power that has come to characterise the energy sector, and everything that entails in terms of economic power and political reality”.
He insisted that “saving energy and promoting alternative energy sources are one of the great pillars that will enable economic recovery to fulfil the potential defined in the 2020 strategy” for European growth in this decade.
This is “a task for all of society but most especially for mayors,” Zapatero said, reiterating that they must make energy savings and efficient energy use a priority policy.
Zapatero stressed that the EU is the only institution that has decisively accepted commitments to tackle climate change, which he said illustrated that “Europe is the best example there is”.
“Only those who are of a selfish mentality, with a limited vision of the future, have any doubts about the strength of the Europe we are building”, he concluded.
Wednesday 5th May 2010
