European Union sets goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions


On Thursday, European Union leaders announced that they've reached an agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.
The deal wasn't reached easily, the BBC says, and compromises were reportedly made between countries that rely heavily on coal and those that wanted deep emissions cuts. Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, said that some poorer countries would get funding to reach the targets.
The news wasn't met with full-throated cheers by environmental groups, who believe more could be done. The amount fell "far too short of what the EU needs to do to pull its weight in the fight against climate change," said Oxfam's Natalia Alonso.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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