EU and US have different approaches to climate change what are they & why do they adopt different approaches?

Question

please help

Answer 1

You will never get everybody to agree on everything.

On top of that Europe and the US have different problems caused by the different strategies.  Europe prefers diesel engines maybe because of the mileage but it causes NOx which causes acid rain and thats a problem for them.  The US prefers gas which is generally cleaner (and cheaper to make clean) but gets lower mileage and causes smog.

We also use very different layouts for our cities.  European cities are very old and were laid out to make them walkable.  Everything was very compact.  Most cities in the US (except for the old cities on the east coast) are spread out because they were designed around cars.  Large fast cars are practical here but not in Europe.

There is no reason to think that global warming is man made.  Earth has been warmer than now (middle ages) and colder than now (several ice ages).  Humans had nothing to do with those changes.  The 1930s had some of the hottest ever recorded temperatures and the 1970s were so cold people cried about global cooling.

Answer 2

Europeans are more socialist minded than North Americans, and are more willing to accept whatever the government tells them to do.  The EU signed on to the Kyoto agreement, which was probably the biggest environmental and economic blunder that's ever happened over there.

The U.S. and Canada aren't adhering to the Kyoto deal.  Canada all but signed on but the new government want's nothing to do with it and doesn't honor the agreement.

The EU failed to study global warming enough before commiting to it, and didn't come to realize that it's a leftist political scam that has nothing to do with science.  Meanwhile, the Europeans are paying more in tax to cover the carbon end of things, which is another pointless gesture.  Hopefully they'll realize this soon and withdraw from Kyoto.

Answer 3

donfletcheryh stated the differences perfectly. The basic difference between the US and EU...The US is full of individuals while the EU acts as a community.

It's much more difficult to get anything done with a bunch of individuals that are worried about their own self interests.

Answer 4

Here in the US, our govt. has censored the reports on climate change. That has led to the so called 'debate' ! lol!

I think that the govt. knows what is in store for us,and are afraid we will panic in the face of EXTINCTION!

Answer 5

North America has come to enjoy having big gas guzzling vehicles, climate controlled buildings, and low energy costs. That is, of course the user of energy has not had to pay the real cost of the energy, so we have come to think of this as our right, as long as we can pay for it.

In Europe I would say the canton meeting of Switzerland has acted as a model, in which people get together and discuss what they all need to do to have a better life. Well, that leads to a more viral behaviour of concepts. When all of your canton comes to a way of thinking, or at least a majority, it is not a thought that some outside force is imposing this on you. It is more a matter of "we decided".

In America, the closest thing we have to a canton meeting is the meetings of political parties, and here we have little opportunity to feel that our communities are forming an opinion. Most people do not participate, and when they do, it is not the community, it is an interest group.

Europe clearly did not adopt their view from the guidance of a political leader. They had formed their view well before "inconvenient truth". Perhaps the polarization of a political leader was part of the problem in America.