Switch on brain, please

It's enough to make you want to tear your hair out. Why can't the EU come up with a good idea for a change?

On top of this, the European Commission is considering environmental regulations that could add £55 to the cost of an airline ticket. These developments will be hailed by ailing national carriers and condemned by the successful budget airlines. That's because British Airways can absorb such a price increase, while the increase would destroy EasyJet's competitive advantage of low costs.
[...]
Environmental rules already require airlines to increase energy use. High-angle landing and takeoff patterns require more power and so increase fuel use. Altitude restrictions -- now being considered as a separate climate change prevention measure -- add miles to the journey and increase fuel use. In fact, we should be looking at ways to reduce journey lengths. Today, government regulates the paths that aircraft must take on any given journey, while air-traffic control prohibits pilots from choosing their own route. Allowing 'free flight' would yield greenhouse-gas emissions reduction of up to 17 per cent.

Read the whole thing for the real reasons behind the measure.
And if by any chance you have been hoaxed into believing that the oceans are about to flood the earth, you should read this excellent article. When will we follow Tony Blair's lead, and admit that the Kyoto Protocol is an embarassingly stupid idea?
And, of course, we need to go nuclear (via GayandRight).