The End of the Road by Ken Livingstone

[Joanne98]

The end of the road
The European Commission is right: the car industry can't go on dodging tougher rules on carbon emissions.
Ken Livingstone

February 7, 2007 05:30 PM
The European Commission is entirely right to set tougher carbon emissions standards for new cars and it is entirely predictable that Edmund King of the RAC should protest that the target of reducing carbon emissions from new cars to 130gm/km by 2012 will be "tough" on manufacturers.

I thought that last week's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report had finally ended the debate - the time for words was over - now is the time for action. Yet, here we are, only a week later, and the response of the motoring lobby to the EU's rather modest proposals is illustrative of a wider failure to respond to the threat of climate change.

It is only because manufacturers made such poor progress in reaching the (tougher) voluntary target of 120gm/km - cutting average emissions over the last 10 years from 185gm/km to just 165gm/km - that mandatory limits are necessary.

I will shortly be publishing a plan of how London can achieve the necessary cuts in carbon emission across all sectors. It is clear that this will only be possible through a combination of regulation, carbon pricing and behavioural change.

In London, we have achieved some success with this model. Congestion charging, investment in public transport and public information campaigns have helped make London the only major city in the world to achieve a shift away from car usage to public transport. Free travel schemes for young people introduced over the last few years mean that, while we are investing in the system, we are cushioning the costs for families, and helping to promote a public transport culture among the next generation. Measures to improve cycling facilities have seen cycling rates double. Investment in road safety and better pedestrian facilities are making it easier to walk around the city.

Edmund King is right to argue that some consumers must bear some of the burden to make the right choices. But it is myopic to ignore the role of car manufacturers themselves, whose costly advertising campaigns entice consumers into buying ever bigger, more gadget-filled, and thus polluting, cars.

We know that car manufacturers can produce cleaner vehicles. Indeed, if every vehicle in London were swapped for the cleanest model in its class, it would cut carbon emissions from cars by 30% overnight.

It is nearly 20 years since the UN formed its Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and yet global carbon emissions continue to rise. Time has run out to carry on bending to the interest groups that hold us back from tackling climate change. The European Commission should be applauded for today's announcement.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ken_livingstone/2007/02/the_end_of_the_road.html