X-From_: tgray  Fri Oct 16 05:24:51 1992
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Date:         Fri, 16 Oct 1992 05:25:00 PDT
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From:         Tom Gray <tgray@IGC.APC.ORG>
Subject:      IPS: Spain Sees Climate Threat

/* Written 12:03 am  Oct  6, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary
*/
/* ---------- "ENVIRONMENT: Climatic changes threa" ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: ENVIRONMENT: Climatic changes threaten 20 million Spaniards


an inter press service feature

by marcel garces

madrid, oct 3 (ips/marcel garces) -- due to changes to the world
climate, some 20 million spaniards who live along 8,000 kms of
mediterranean coast are in danger, say environmental organisations
and government authorities.

minister of public works and transport jose borrel has recently
declared that spain would be one of the countries most affected by
changes to climate and environment. the threat hangs over
approximately 50 percent of the population living along the
coasts, where half of the national wealth is produced.

according to official statistics, the sea level has risen
between five and six centimetres during the past 15 years. ecology
groups predict that this process will accelerate in the future.

in spite of the agreement between the government and ecologists
about the threat posed by climatic changes, each proposes
different solutions, especially concerning the emission of the
gases these changes produce.

the ''greenhouse effect'' or the global warming of the planet
is produced by the concentration of gases in the atmosphere. these
gases act in the same way as panes of glass in a greenhouse: they
keep in the heat produced by infra-red radiation, thus preventing
it from escaping into the atmosphere.

one of the agents which creates this effect is carbon dioxide
(co2), which some experts claim to be responsible for 50 percent
of the global warming effect.

since the start of the industrial revolution in the second half
of the 19th century the concentration of co2 in the earth's
atmosphere has increased by 25 percent. co2 is mainly produced by
the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and wood.

other gases like methane (ch4), nitrous oxide (n2o) and halogen
compounds -- which destroy the ozone layer that protects the earth
from the sun's rays -- also share responsibility for the
greenhouse effect.

chlorofluorocarbon (cfc) gases, which started to be produced
artificially in the 1930s, are now found in refrigerants, sprays
and other products.

jose luis garcia ortega, a member of the international
ecological organisation 'greenpeace', has stated that, faced with
this situation ''as an initial minimum goal, spain should make a
clear and concrete commitment to stabilise its co2 emissions in
the year 2000 at the same level as in 1992''. (more/ips)

environment: climatic changes threaten 20 million spaniards(2-e)

environment: climatic (2)

this proposal, shared by dozens of spanish ecological
organisations, conflicts with a government decision to increase
co2 emissions derived from the generation of thermal electrical
energy. by the year 2000 these levels could rise by some 25
percent.

the is despite the decision of the european community (ec) to
stabilise co2 emissions by the year 2000. spain currently emits
1.5 tonnes of co2 per capita per year while the rest of the ec
countries emit 2.2 tonnes and the united states more than five.

madrid has confirmed that it agrees with stabilisation,
provided this be considered regionally and is realised after the
25 percent increase spain proposes, has been approved.

for garcia ortega of greenpeace the basic problem lies in the
interest of oil and coal producers ''to continue increasing
production, sales and earnings -- whatever the consequences for
the environment''.

greenpeace and the ecologist association for the defence of
nature, two of the spain's principal environmental agencies, do
not have much faith in the activity of the new national commission
for the climate. this government agency, which began its work last
week, will, in july 1993, have to deliver a report on climatic
changes and their consequences to spain.

garcia ortega contends that there is a contradiction between a
government commission which must recommend action to reduce co2
emissions and the national energy plan, which encourages an
increase in the quantity of this gas. the only purpose left for
the commission to perform would therefore be to justify the
emissions, ''which would of course be a lamentable role for it.''

juan carlos rodriguez murillo, a member of the association of
ecologists for the defence of nature, noted that the government is
opposed to the ''energy tax'' proposed last december by the
european commission. this consists of a tax of one dollar per
barrel of oil used, or its equivalent in fossil energy.

this ''energy tax'' would be administered by the respective
governments as established in the corresponding ec protocols. no
specific recommendation exists so far on how the funds generated
by the tax would be utilised.

the tax initiative, which according to rodriguez murillo
''would favour energy efficiency'', is frozen for the moment in
the ec commission. the ecologist claimed that this was mainly due
to obstructionist tactics adopted by spain.

in this perspective, the ecologist association for the defence
of nature proposes that the ''energy tax'' be destined for the
development of solar, wind and other types of alternative energy
sources.(end/ips/en/mg/ica/trd/cpg/92)