Word: caps
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...biggest concession to all industrial burners of fossil fuels raised the national cap on greenhouse gas emissions from the original proposal of 5.7 billion metric tons (BMT) by 2020 to 5.9 BMT. The difference may seem nominal until you consider what the elite scientific body, the International Panel on Climate Change, urges for the same timeline - a cap of at least 1.3 BMT lower. Only then will there be 50% chance of avoiding a major warming...
...initial House proposal triggered opposition by many of the biggest polluters, including electric utilities and industries that burn carbon-heavy coal. They would have to obtain permits for each ton of warming gases - chiefly carbon dioxide - limited by the cap. The bill didn't specify how the permits would be allocated or how much those permits might cost. Environmentalists wanted the government to auction them, with the proceeds used to lighten ratepayer utility bills inflated by the higher costs of running power plants and to subsidize energy efficiency measures. (See pictures of this fragile earth...
...teams' gripe: such a scheme would create a two-tier championship, with those able to accept the cap free to add movable front and rear wings, for instance, or carry out unlimited out-of-season testing. Such activities could chop three seconds off a lap time. Moreover, the manner in which the plans came about has also put teams in a spin. Not having been consulted sufficiently by the governing body, Renault said in its own statement, it was now refusing "to accept unilateral governance handed out by the FIA." (See pictures of the American muscle car in the movies...
Despite the breakdown of talks Friday, it's still unlikely that those opposing the cap will need to follow through on their threats to leave when the deadline for entering next season expires on May 29; after all, few sports can rival Formula One for its history of posturing. Ferrari, the only team to have competed since the series began in 1950, threatened in the 1980s to leave for the Indianapolis 500. Drastic proposals by the FIA last year to introduce a standardized engine across all teams - a nonstarter for the likes of Ferrari - quickly looked like scare tactics aimed...
...deeper issues remain. For a sport eager to attract more teams and sponsors - owing to financial pressures, some of each have left the sport in recent months - the arguments and uncertainty do little for Formula One's appeal. With the FIA already having raised the budget cap from $45 million under pressure from the teams, "it's wrong that it has become such a public debate," says Jackie Stewart, a three-time Formula One world champion and ex-team boss. "It's unsettling for the marketplace...