By the way, the guys who is quoted drives an SUV that gets like 11 MPG. No kidding!
Berlin--
EU proposes limits on the nation's highways as part of the fight against global warming, according to comments published Sunday.
Many stretches of German autobahn lack speed limits — traditionally a cherished freedom in a generally rule-bound country. However, the current surge in concern over carbon dioxide emissions is putting that tradition under renewed scrutiny.
"There are so many areas in which we waste energy in a completely senseless way and burden the climate," EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas was quoted as saying in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
"A simple measure in Germany could be a general speed limit on highways," he added, according to the newspaper. "Speed limits make a lot of sense for many reasons and are completely normal in most EU states, as in the U.S.A. — only in Germany, strangely, is it controversial."
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With Germany currently holding the presidency of both the EU and the Group of Eight, Chancellor Angela Merkel has made a priority of pushing forward efforts to combat climate change. Last week, she steered an EU summit to a bold set of measures to fight global warming.
However, Merkel has brushed aside previous suggestions that a general speed limit on highways would help, most recently last month.
Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Sunday that he has "nothing against [a limit] for reasons of traffic safety" but argued that the restriction would not encourage manufacturers to produce more environment-friendly engines.
"This is a secondary front and a trivialization of the climate problem," he said at an event in Hamburg.