Minister Blames Industry for Emissions Dispute

Green Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin said German industry was responsible for the dispute with his Social Democratic colleague, Economics Minister Wolfgang Clement, over the emissions trading system. "Wolfgang Clement and I will be able to come to an agreement," Trittin told Die Welt newspaper. "The real problem is with industry." He said that Germany's firms demanded higher carbon emissions rights than the government could allow and still uphold the Kyoto Protocol aims to cut such pollutants. Clement was branded an industry stooge by Green party environment spokesman Winfried Hermann after the minister on Wednesday rejected a paper drawn up by experts that was meant to resolve Green party and industry differences over emission levels. Clement dismissed the accusation, saying that the balance between economy and ecology must be compatible with industry's needs to be able to compete internationally.