France, Seeking to Boost Green Credentials, Heads Toward Cleaner Existence
The Associated Press Published: October 23, 2007 PARIS : Stamping camembert with a "carbon footprint" rating. Charging Parisians for the empty Bordeaux bottles they discard. Banning high speeds through the pasture-lined highways of the Loire Valley. France is trying to clean up its act, readying measures this week aimed at reversing its image as environmental laggard and making it a pioneer in the fight against global warming and other threats to the Earth's well-being. Yet environmental groups fear the measures, to be finalized at a conference Wednesday and Thursday, will be too watered down to make a difference in France's carbon emissions and have little impact on worldwide efforts to reduce the pollution that is warming the planet. President Nicolas Sarkozy isn't letting those fears slow his push to raise France's eco-profile. He put global warming high on his agenda after his