One thing about Big Gov'mints.....

.....they just keep pushin' in and pushin' into private lives and private enterprise and owner's rights.

Patio heaters targeted in Europe's climate fight

Wed Jan 30, 2008 By Pete Harrison

LONDON (Reuters) - The patio heaters warming drinkers and diners on the pavements of northern Europe are also warming the planet's climate and should be banned, according to a European Parliament report that could be adopted on Thursday.

Environmentalists argue that heaters not only pump heat directly into the atmosphere but also climate-damaging CO2, while owners of pubs and bars say they need them to help retain customers driven outside by smoking bans.

"Patio heaters are scandalous because they are burning fossil fuels in the open sky, so producing vast quantities of CO2 with very little heat benefit," said European parliamentarian Fiona Hall, who wrote the report criticizing the pace of energy reforms in Europe.

"We urge the Commission to set a timetable for completely taking off the market some appliances that are intrinsically inefficient, such as patio heaters," she added.

The report will not lead directly to legislation, but it seeks to guide the European Commission on parliamentarians' priorities.

Any ban would be fiercely opposed by UK pub owners, whose businesses suffered after a smoking ban last year and are now struggling with weakening consumer spending and rising costs.

The heaters are also popular in many other European countries.

"It's ironic this comes at a time when we've all invested heavily in slightly heated areas after the government banned smoking," said Giles Thorley, Chief Executive of Britain's biggest pubs owner Punch Taverns, which has around 8,400 venues.

Let's see now. Gov'mints don't outlaw cigarettes, they depend on the taxes they generate. But to 'protect the public', they ban them from public buildings like bars and restaurants. Then when the bistro owners try to accommodate their chilled customers -- the gov'mint wants to step in again and regulate the patio heaters..... Hot Damn... they just never give up!!!
I can't hardly wait for this new North America Community Gov'mint to start runnin' things in this country with some of those limp wristed Euro wannabes up in Montreal in charge....