Combating global warming is a topic that has united the center-left. Indeed, left-wing politicians seem to be in a race to present the most radical ideas possible to limit greenhouse gas emissions while business owners and citizens have taken a back seat, as usual.
Of all the environmental packages created in Brussels, “Fit for 55” will be the most expensive. As early as 2030, CO2 emission is meant to drop by 55 percent compared to 1990. The emission trade will also be modified. Coal duties will be imposed on resources coming from outside the EU, and the proportion of renewable energy in Europe’s energy consumption will rise to 40 percent.
Additionally, new norms for personal and delivery vehicles will be imposed as part of the emission reduction system. This will be on such a scale that soon bans will be introduced on the production of cars with gas engines. Cars themselves will become a luxury. European bureaucrats will encourage us to use public transport, rent a city bike, or hop onto an electric scooter.
The New EU Emissions Trading System will also concern construction and transport, as they are responsible for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe. Ecologic construction will be promoted alongside passive houses while the switch from gas heating to photovoltaic panels will be accelerated. The price of housing is skyrocketing and soon the price of building a home will be even more expensive, which will be due to new duties imposed on resources such as steel, iron, aluminum, concrete, and fertilizers. Imports are meant to drastically drop, but exports will follow suit.
For Polish industry, these changes will equal €1.1 billion in additional expenses, however, European citizens will also feel this growth in prices far more than companies. Transport is estimated to be 50 percent more expensive, while spending on energy will cost at least double.
The masses will be encouraged to “share”, “reduce”, and “borrow” in the name of political correctness.
What does all this mean in practice?
For starters, ordinary people will be only able to dream about a new car or affordable flights. This will become a luxury for the elite. The masses will be encouraged to “share”, “reduce”, and “borrow” in the name of political correctness.
To draw attention away from these expenses, European bureaucrats will promote subjects such as the cultural war in the name of gender ideology and force countries such as Poland to accept all legal solutions based on the rule of EU law being above state law.
The United States’ silent approval for the completion of the German-Russian Nord Stream 2 has created a drastic rise in gas prices in Europe. Add to this the increased demand for gas on international markets, and we have a recipe for astronomically high prices. Moreover, Russia has blocked the transfer of gas during winter to force a quicker certification of the Northern pipeline.
Poland is still dependent on Russian gas — years will still have to pass before the Baltic Pipe will become operational and before Poland increases its gas import from the US. For now, Poles must accept that they will have to pay increasingly more for gas.
Bills for electric energy will also be higher. The EU’s climate policy and the mandatory shut down of coal mines are deadly to Poland, given that the majority of the country’s energy comes from coal.
Not so very long ago, Poland could be content with its energy independence and low prices, as it was only second to Denmark when it came to the lowest dependency on energy import in the EU. Now that Poland has capitulated before Brussels, prices will only continue to rise.
All these rising expenses are also part of the hybrid warfare which Russia is carrying out against the Three Seas states. One could argue that Germany is the third side in this conflict. Russia is playing for the quick sanctioning of its resource policy and yearns for Europe’s long-term dependency on its supplies.
Once that happens, Moscow will be able to punish insubordinate European countries such as Ukraine, Poland, or the Baltic states through limiting resource supplies — and thereby show the West how much it can profit from supposedly submissive cooperation.
