Stop Freedom-Frying The Planet

Frank O'Donnell

January 25, 2007

Frank O'Donnell is president of Clean Air Watch, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization aimed at educating the public about clean air and the need for an effective Clean Air Act.

It’s been fashionable in recent years for America’s most vile demagogues to take pot shots at France.

Remember how jailbird Bob Ney demanded the House of Representatives cafeteria sell “freedom fries” because of French opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq? Or when Fox windbag Bill O’Reilly called for a boycott of French products? And who can forget Tom DeLay’s admonition to then-Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle: “Fermez la bouche!"?

But with United Nation talks on global warming due to resume later this month in Paris, maybe it’s time for President Bush to pay a little more attention to the French view of protecting the environment.

After all, the president did acknowledge “the serious challenge of climate change” in his State of the Union message, even though his response generally was to promote more coal, corn and cars. (He seemed so ethanol-crazy that perhaps he forgot he doesn’t get to go to the Iowa caucuses next time.)

If he were a little better versed in history, the president would know we do share a certain intellectual kinship with France. A Frenchman, Pierre Charles L’Enfant, designed our nation’s capital. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French. The founding fathers found inspiration in French philosophers. (And, yes, Tom Paine himself took part in the French Revolution.) You don’t have to get misty-eyed about the imperious Charles de Gaulle or buy into France’s nuclear energy strategy to realize that we could still learn a thing or two from the French.

Unlike in the U.S., most buses roaming the streets of Paris proudly proclaim they are equipped with particle filters to eliminate virtually all the soot. The clean buses vie for road space with fuel-efficient “Smart” cars (initially manufactured in France), which cannot be bought in the U.S. today.

Many hotels and other buildings are equipped with light timers to reduce wasted energy. And France has become the biggest producer of renewable energy in the EU. As a result of these and other initiatives, greenhouse gas emissions in France are lower now than they were in 1990, putting the country on track to meet its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.

Carbon emissions in the U.S. have grown by more than 20 percent over the same period. Indeed, thanks in part to our propensity for driving gas-guzzling SUVs, the average American is reponsible for triple the carbon emissions of the average French person.

There are a lot of reasons for the superior French performance. Public awareness campaigns have been used there to shape behavior since the first oil shock more than 30 years ago.

For example, the French national Climate Plan makes public awareness its first objective and there is evidence this has made a real impact. A recent poll by the TV channel France 24 found that a far higher percentage of French—54 percent—rank climate change as an issue that personally affects them, compared to only about 30 percent in the U.S.  (Interestingly enough, the French are a lot less worried about terrorism—probably because their leaders haven’t tried, Bush-style, to scare the heck out of them for years.)

French behavior is also shaped by tax policy. For example, the French tax high-pollution vehicles while giving tax breaks to lower-carbon diesel fuel and to buyers of lower-polluting cars and energy-efficient appliances. (By contrast, Bush's alleged fuel-saving strategy could promote even more use of gas guzzlers.)

The French also give priority to climate research—in contrast to the U.S., where climate science studies have been cut.

At the heart of these differences, of course, is national leadership, or lack thereof. While President Bush has been hemming and hawing about global warming—he still opposes any mandatory limits—the various French political parties have shared a desire to promote energy independence and a safer environment.

In fact, in 2005, at the instigation of President Jacques Chirac, France actually amended its constitution to add an Environmental Charter, which stipulates that “everyone has a right to live in an environment that is balanced and healthy.” The charter calls for precautionary action “in the case of scientific uncertainty about the consequences of dangers to the environment." It also incorporates a “polluter pay” principle which squarely makes polluters liable for environmental damage. (In D.C., by contrast, “polluter pay” usually refers to campaign contributions by Bush Pioneers, Rangers, etc.)

France has also decided to place climate change at the forefront of its diplomatic work worldwide. It provides financial support to projects throughout the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

So, President Bush, maybe you should have some French fries with your ethanol. It might help clear your head.