BERLIN, March 30 (UPI) -- The German cabinet reached a compromise Tuesday on contentious new greenhouse gas emissions standards.
German Economic Minister Wolfgang Clement won out over Environmental Minister Juergen Trittin in an almost five-hour heated debate brokered by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, the German newspaper Die Welt reports.
The plan agreed upon by the German government calls for carbon dioxide emissions to be reduced to 503 million tons per year by 2007, and to 495 million by 2012.
Those numbers are slightly more stringent than the 505 million Clement would have allowed in 2007, but far less strict than Trittin's recommended 488 million 2007 cap and 480 million 2012 limit.
In 2000 through 2002, Germany emitted about 505 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.
Clement, who is a member of Schroeder's Social Democratic Party, and Trittin, who is a member of the coalition-partner Green Party, had been unable to reach a compromise on their own for new emissions standards. The dispute is considered to have increased tension between the two parties.
Germany is required to submit its emissions plans to the European Union by Wednesday.
