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Sarkozy unveils French `ecological New Deal' measures

European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, left, and US Nobel Laureate Al Gore, second left, applaud a speech by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, on Thursday at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Sarkozy outlined a raft of green measures in the speech. PHOTO: AFP

No more traditional light bulbs in cafes and chandelier-filled chateaux -- or anywhere else in France. No more energy-wasting cars and televisions, and no more drafty windows either.

These proposals are pieces of an "ecological New Deal" that French President Nicolas Sarkozy laid out on Thursday to push France toward the vanguard of the fight against global warming.

At Sarkozy's side, former US vice president and Nobel laureate Al Gore urged the world to follow France's example in tackling what he called a "planetary emergency."

Environmentalists welcomed the gestures but said they were only a first step in catching France up to its "greener" neighbors. They criticized Sarkozy for defending nuclear energy and steering clear of a carbon tax and a ban on genetically modified crops that many had wanted.

"We have waited too long. We cannot wait any longer," Sarkozy said in closing three months of often tense talks among activists, farmers, unions, businesses and government officials aimed at changing the way the French treat the environment.

"France wants to be ahead, and it wants to be exemplary," he said.

The unprecedented environment talks produced about a dozen measures to be sent to parliament for a vote early next year. Parliament, dominated by Sarkozy's party, is likely to pass them, though activists fear lawmakers will water them down.

Sarkozy said that by 2020, all new buildings would be required to be "energy positive, meaning they will produce more energy than they consume," without elaborating.

By 2010, all incandescent light bulbs and single-paned windows would be banned, according to the plan. That would put France ahead of US states such as California that are phasing out the traditional bulb starting in 2012.

Older models of televisions and other electrical equipment considered to consume too much energy will be banned "as soon as an alternative exists at a reasonable price," Sarkozy said.

Road construction will be drastically slowed while high-speed train service will be extended with another 2,000km of new tracks, he said. River traffic will be expanded.

Sarkozy also urged study of a much-disputed carbon tax, but he stopped short of a full endorsement of taxing products from countries that do not adhere to the Kyoto Protocol.

Also see: France attempts return to Europe

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