Winnipeg Free Press

Global warming or not, Manitoba Public Insurance wants to impress upon Manitoba drivers that snow tires can make their vehicle safer on winter roads by helping them to stop more quickly and avoid sliding on ice and snow.

MPI has launched a promotion called Take Action on Traction, which will run until Oct. 31, and 10 lucky winners will have their vehicles equipped with a set of winter tires, says Clif Eden, manager of Road Safety Programming with MPI.

According to MPI, collision claims in the winter are nearly 50 per cent higher than in the spring and summer months.

Reuters AlertNet - EU urged to agree on climate before UN talks open

"For Poland, the current proposal is still more a threat than an opportunity, I think. If the EU wants to set an example in Poznan, it has to work out a consensus within the bloc first," Piotr Serafin, a deputy head of the Office of the Committee for European Integration, told a climate change panel organised by a pro EU think-tank on Tuesday.

"Only then will it be able to act as a role model on the world stage. Tension in the global negotiations will be between rich and poor. And you cannot force China or India into a deal. Europe must work out its own consensus in order to exert pressure on the global stage."

Poland fears ambitious EU goals for curbing emissions would result in energy price increases of up to 70 percent. With fellow ex-communist states Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania, it has signed a statement calling for more debate on Brussels' plans.

Some political analysts have seen the declaration of the five ex-communist countries as an attempt to build up a blocking minority in the EU that would force the Commission to seek a compromise on its plans.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in June Warsaw might try to block the plan if Warsaw's demands were not met.