Deadly air pollution may be the price for new jobs in Greece
▻http://www.newsweek.com/2018/04/20/photos-deadly-air-pollution-may-be-price-new-jobs-greece-883631.html
The belching smokestacks of Ptolemaida’s coal-fired energy plant are a sign of opportunity for Greeks who lost their jobs after the country’s financial meltdown in 2007. For many others, however, they’re a symbol of the European Union’s hypocrisy.
In April 2017, the EU approved new regulations aimed at cutting toxic emissions from burning dirty fuels, such as coal. “Air pollution is the prime environmental cause of premature death in the European Union,” Enrico Brivio, a spokesman for the European Commission, told Reuters.
Yet five months earlier, as part of its continuing austerity measures, the bloc provided Greece with 1.75 billion euros ($1.85 billion) to build two new coal plants. Per The Guardian, they would emit more than 7 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. A major backer: Germany, the EU’s most powerful member and a self-proclaimed green energy leader.