BJP slams Government's carbon intensity cut policy

New Delhi, Dec 6(ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday criticized Union Government's decision to cut its carbon intensity in the range of 20 and 25 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels and accused it of changing the baseline before the Copenhagen talks.

Addressing the media in the national capital, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley said: "Today, we forego the per capita principle that we have followed, that I have as much a right in carbon space as a developed country's citizen has. Instead, they (developed countries) are not announcing their cuts, we are unilaterally announcing our cuts without being sure who is going to meet the cost of this reduction."

"And, this whole policy that he (Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh) has announced particularly in his interview to the Times of India (a daily newspaper), that we are even flexible and are likely to adopt independent inspection and verification of our unsupported domestic actions. This is wholly unacceptable," he added.

Jaitley further highlighted that the country is unsatisfied with the decision, and said: "The whole country is upset, our negotiators are sulking, the only one happy about this seems to be the White House, and the White House has now made a statement that they are very happy that India has come on board. It is clear that even though we stand for an Indo-US friendship, it can't be one-sided that we succumb to every pressure." (ANI)