EU posts drop in greenhouse gas

Among the 15 Western European countries that make up the original European Union, greenhouse gas emissions dropped 0.8% between 2004 and 2005, according to a report by the European Environment Agency. The small decline brought the countries' total greenhouse gas emissions to 1.5% below their 1990 levels, the agency notes. Under the Kyoto protocol, the 15 countries are to have emissions that are 8% less than 1990 levels by 2010, a goal that the agency says is attainable. For the 27 countries that now make up the EU, total greenhouse gas emissions in 2005 were collectively 8% below 1990 levels. The reductions for the 12 new EU countries, many of which are in Eastern Europe, are in large part due to industrial restructuring and plant shutdowns. For the EU-15 countries, the report says the decreases in greenhouse gases were due primarily to CO₂ emissions reductions in Germany, Finland, and the Netherlands, the result of shifts away from the use of coal and other fossil fuels to produce electricity. In comparison, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions increased 0.8% in 2005 and were 16% above 1990 levels.