Wauquiez seeking regional presidency

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything about my favorite part of “la France profonde.”  (Of course, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything here period.)  It snowed some in the Haute-Loire department last night, but was mostly above freezing during the day.  Reportedly, it’s been a fairly mild winter.

Le Puy in July.  © Richard Mounts

Since Thursday, the major local news story has been Laurent Wauquiez’ decision to seek his party’s nomination as its candidate for presidency of the newly-created region of Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes.  The election will be at the end of this year.  Besides being a national figure in the center-right UMP (Union pour un Mouvement Populaire) party (and a minister during the Sarkozy government), he is the mayor of Le Puy-en-Velay, a position he’s had since 2008.  His announcement had a special importance for Le Puy since he promised that if elected to the regional position he’d resign as mayor.

It seems unlikely he would have announced his candidacy if he didn’t have reasons to believe he could win.  And I’ll be interested to see how things develop in this new political landscape and, eventually, what it might mean for environmental policies in the area.  But right at the moment the new regional electorate is probably much more diverse than Le Puy’s.  For one thing, it includes the major cities of Clermont-Ferrand, Saint-Étienne, Lyon, and Grenoble whose voters probably aren’t so familiar with someone from a small city (stretching it) in the mountains.  Wauquiez promises he’ll continue to look out for Le Puy if he’s elected.  Somehow, though, I suspect he may to be able to look out for the city from the mayor’s office.  We’ll see.

Climate: public opinion

Yesterday's post ended with the hope that experts’ reports on climate change, together with more and more peoples’ direct experience with its effects though more and more dramatic weather patterns, might finally affect public opinion and so push political decision-makers towards real action.

After writing that, I went looking to see what survey data might show.  I’ll keep looking, but the first stuff I found wasn’t exactly reassuring.  This Gallup poll, published March 18, 2014, reports that fewer people now than in 2001 think human actions are responsible for changes in the environment.  The whole timeline deserves attention, but this is still the basic finding.  Depressing.

Climate: sadness and frustration

Is there anything sadder than the regular news about changes in our climate?  The natural world is no longer natural.  Our actions, especially pumping the atmosphere full of CO2 from cars and power plants, have, to say the least, badly disrupted things.  And recent findings of the National Climate Assessment tell us it will get worse.  More glaciers melting, higher sea levels, more droughts, more torrential rains and flooding.

Is there anything more frustrating and disheartening that the collective failure to stop this?  Certainly, the President is now using regulatory authorities under existing legislation to reduce CO2 emissions.  But there are limits to how much he can accomplish this way and no one expects any new authority from the Congress.  Meanwhile, opponents of climate action cry that these regulations are “a war on coal” and promise opposition in every way possible.

Can we hope that reports like this, along with regular news of climatic disasters (we can’t call them “natural disasters” anymore), will change public views and be translated into political action?
We can only hope — and push wherever we can.

Terra Nova: Une Politique Sociale-Écologique

Terra Nova recently issued a short policy paper entitled Pour une Politique Sociale-Écologique: Protéger l'Environnement et Réduire les Inégalités.  From a relatively quick review, it looks like a useful restatement of the need to combine environmental and social policies.  Terra Nova, which until now I've only been passingly aware of, was created in 2008 and describes itself as an "independent progressive think tank aiming to produce and disseminate innovative political solutions for France and Europe."  It's been compared to the moderately progressive Center for American Progress in the U.S.

The report's emphasis that the poor are the least able to protect themselves from the effects of environmental degradation is not new news.  Nor is it news that environmental programs often face opposition from those claiming that they limit the economic growth that would benefit the poor.  Still, the paper is a timely reminder that, politically and practically, environmental programs and actions to reduce inequalities need each other.  And it presents several arguments in favor of a "politique social-écologique."

The authors promise specific policy proposals in later papers.  They also promise to broaden the discussion to European and international settings.  I'll pay more attention now.

"Grey Paree"

Right now, people in Paris may be rubbing their eyes as they look at the Eiffel Tower.  But it wouldn’t be because of anything about the Tower.  It’s because of the air.

©Christonphe ENA/AP

It looks as if Paris, and several other French cities, are going through what I experienced growing up in Los Angeles in the 1950s.  An inversion layer of air seems to be trapping automobile emissions and creating a familiar brownish haze across the city.

As a quick, short-term measure to get people out of their cars, government officials have made all forms of public transport free over this weekend.  Philippe Martin, the Minister of Ecology, estimates the cost at 3 million euros a day, a cost that he says will be shared by all levels of government and the private sector.

How did the City of Light end up with smog?  Commentators point towards cars generally, diesel-powered cars in particular, and agriculture (although it’s not clear exactly this last factor relates to the air pollution in Paris and the other cities).  Apparently, despite successful bike sharing programs and new tram lines in several cities, too little has been done to reduce the use of cars.  Drivers are considered a powerful political force by both the left and right and policy makers are loath to propose anything that would restrict what they consider is a right to free movement on all roads.

In addition, France is distinct in the incentives it provides to auto makers to encourage producing cars with diesel engines.  These cars now make up sixty percent of private cars in the country.  The fuel may cost less, but they are more polluting than normal gas engines, emitting large quantities of fine particulate matter.

Is this a wake up call for the government?  It wouldn’t appear to be.  Ecology Minister Martin talks about gathering other ministries and auto makers to talk about “the evolution of their production.”  But god forbid there should be any talk of reducing diesel’s fiscal benefits.  “That won’t be the issue,” said Martin.

France proposes incentive for bicycle commuting

Last week, Le Monde reported on a new Plan Vélo announced by the French Minister of Transport, Frédéric Cuvillier.  The plan, in fact, seems quite modest, but it includes an interesting idea.  The government wants to encourage employers to offer a financial incentive to employees who bike to work.

© rmounts

Under the program, Employers who sign up would pay bicycle commuting employees 25 cents (a quarter of a euro) per kilometer travelled.  So, for example, someone whose round-trip commute was 10 km per day would receive 2.50 euros, or 12.50 euros a week and 50 euros a month.

It’s not a lot, but if I were still working and lived in France (mixed emotions there), it would probably get me to ride to work.  I can think of several nice things I could buy with an extra 50 euros a month.  And maybe even a new bike every couple of years.

The incentive to the employers would be a reduction of certain employee-related payments currently made to the government.  The Transport Ministry estimates receipts from these payments would drop by about 110 million euros, an amount representing the public cost of the bicycle commuting proposal.  In addition to the incentive proposal, the Plan Vélo would encourage local governments to take advantage of a “tool box” of measures to facilitate bicycle use in urban areas.

As a measure to do something serious to reduce automobile use and carbon emissions, this Plan Vélo seems terribly limited.  In 2012, the Sarkozy government announced a similar plan with a target of having bicycles account for 10 percent of commuting trips by 2020.  According to the Le Monde article, bicycle commuting currently accounts for just 2 percent of such trips.   The Hollande government doesn't seem to be proposing any targets.   Still, the financial incentive idea is intriguing.  Assuming the government goes ahead and adopts the program, I’ll be interested to see how many employers sign up and what the response is among employees.

Italian jobs in the rivers?

A recent article in an Italian on-line environmental publication, Greenreport.it, provides a reminder of a looming deadline for water quality in lakes and rivers.  An E.U. directive from 2000 sets the deadline for Italy and other member countries for next year.  Those failing to meet the standards face economic sanctions meant to be serious enough to draw governmental attention.  So far, though, the new Renzi government hasn’t seemed to give water issues, or the environment generally, much attention.  The Greenreport article, perhaps as a kind of signal flag aimed at Rome, includes a reminder that environmental cleanup can produce a lot of jobs.  It cites a recent Ambente Italia report estimating that an investment of 27 billion in the water sector over the next ten years could produce something like 45,000 jobs.  I have a feeling that, rather than new investment, we're more likely to see Italy asking Brussels to postpone the deadline -- and sanctions -- for a few years.  And they probably won't be alone in making the request.

Il Fiume Topino near Cannara, Italy.  More of an irrigation canal at this point.  © rmounts