It is time to put an end to schizophrenia

Five hundred and twenty-six votes for the Bill to the Grenelle of the environment against only 4 votes against, almost unanimously in the National Assembly marked an important step towards that Nicolas Hulot calls "ecological mutation in the France." "The magic of the Grenelle continues to operate," said the Minister of ecology, Jean-Louis Borloo, on a cloud. More land to land, the President of the PS National Assembly group, Jean-Marc Ayrault, argued the need to give a strong sign of mobilization for the European climate plan.

With reason, because, in Brussels, it will take at least of the "magic" to reach an agreement before the end of the year. Financial crisis requires, the last Council of Heads of State was a festival of threats and challenges. As if the crisis had removed all complex to the more recalcitrant. With the sense of the tragicomedy that is clean, Silvio Berlusconi shouted that "its business is never incur the costs of the fight against climate change." And when they reminded him that the 27 Heads of State had adopted, in March 2007, unanimously, the objectives of the European climate plan, the "Condottieri" replied that at the time he was not there! On the defensive, the Poland, whose electricity is manufactured 90 from coal, threatened top and veto in rallying eight other Central European countries. Even the Germany fails, both its industrial lobbying intensifies. Impossible, are they all in the heart, of the costs of a auction of emission allowances, the central device of the anti-CO2 control. And each claim of exemptions.

Nicolas Sarkozy and José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, have been good on the objectives, the sacrosanct "3 x 20" (20 emission reduction of greenhouse gases, 20 of renewable energy, 20 of energy efficiency by 2020), but the French President has promised to seek "the ways and means of flexibility", opening a gap to overriding plans that could lead to the bankruptcy of the construction of a carbon market really binding. If the EU adopts a plan too diminished because of the financial crisis, no doubt, it will sign the judgment of death of international efforts to negotiate after Kyoto, and at the same time the abandonment of its commitment to leadership on this issue.

At the time where Bank turmoil reveals the need for regulation and the limits of a vision too short term, be reason of the only project in the long term of the international community: the fight against climate change Everything happens as if Governments had forgotten the lessons of the Stern report (1) and the link between environmental destruction and economic crisis. With the rise of selfishness, some, the first in which the United Nations, emphasized that the climate plan is, on the contrary, the intelligent stimulus plan awaits the world. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, has proposed to the European Heads of State to use for emergence a "green" economy and create millions of jobs. Director of the UN Environment program, Joachim Steiner launched a call to not fight against the recession, with support to the old economy, but to the new measures: "Need a green New Deal to build a carbon-free economy." An idea shared by the European Greens. Daniel Cohn-Bendit proposes a plan for recovery of the European economy orchestrated around energy efficiency measures and funded by massive borrowing of the EBRD. Rather than give the Poland a preferential regime to prevent veto, would it not be better help to launch a broad plan of isolation of its housing to create jobs, fight against the greenhouse effect and focus on helping the Poles, who spend more than 10 of their income to their heating

A "green deal" No head of State has yet come to this conclusion. Each knitting in her corner his stimulus plan. With a little touch of "green". Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, reflects an increase in tax incentives to energy in building renovation and the purchase of own cars, Nicolas Sarkozy announced it wanted to invest in clean technologies and the digital economy, citing the crossing zero rate loans appropriated for housing insulation. Without however pushing logic to the end: no "green" conditionality was enacted for the redemption of 30,000 housing developers, nor for the Bank rescue plan. While all economic studies converge: EUR 1 million invested in fossil in France to create a demi-emploi, while the same amount used to better isolate housing to create ten, recalls Philippe Quirion, researcher at the CNRS. The development of renewable energy has created 400,000 jobs in the European Union, including 200,000 in our German neighbors. And at an affordable price, the additional cost of green electricity in Germany of 3 euros per month and per household, or the price of a beer! As a reminder, the heating bill of a house "low power" (less than 50 kWh/m2/year), as required by the Grenelle of the environment to go 2012 would only 9 euros per month.

It is time to put an end to schizophrenia. If Nicolas Sarkozy wants to take the lead on behalf of the European Union of the struggle for a new Bretton Woods, while maintaining that the battle for the future of the planet, it must be said that the fight against the recession and the safeguarding of an ambitious European plan for the climate are compatible. Stop to enact short-term emergency measures to preserve the future of a negotiation that engages the long term. It remained eight weeks to save the climate plan, while the heart of the device, the auctioning of CO2 emission allowances, is in danger. Rather than negotiate exceptions with each other, in an attempt to bring the 27 Heads of State signed an agreement on a minimum, must be quickly convinced the Polish, Italian and other holdouts of the virtues of a "Green Deal". After all, the success of the New Deal of Roosevelt owes much to the Civilian Conservation Corps", which used up to 3 million young people to plant trees, fight against soil erosion and flooding...