Claire Wilson
THE European Parliament has approved the world’s strictest regulations on carbon dioxide emissions for new cars, and it has received a mixed reaction.
Cars built in the EU after 2020 must abide by an average limit of 95 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre, compared with an existing limit of 130 grams.
Germany campaigned for more time to implement the restrictions as it will be extremely challenging for its car industry – which includes luxury car makers such as Daimler and BMW – to do so.
The German pressure has forced the Parliament to delay the target for a year and environmental campaigners said the delay meant only 95% of new cars would meet the 95 g/km target in 2020, equating to a 3 g/km weakening of the target.
Rebecca Harms, co-president of the Green Party in the European Parliament, said the weakening of the 2020 limits was “a shameful sop to German car manufacturers and will slow the development of new technologies to deliver more efficient and less polluting cars.”
As a general rule, the smaller a car engine is, the less polluting it can be made to be. In general, the more luxurious a car is, the larger its engine, the more polluting it will be. Germany specialises in the latter.
“Top Gear” has a lot to answer for in this respect. It makes people think irrelevancies like 0 to 60, engine note, top speed, sporty handling, appearance, are more important than economy, safety, comfort, m.p.g. and low emissions.
If we wish to stay safely mobile, the emission targets sought by the E.U. need to be implemented.
The best thing about Top Gear is how mush people like you Stefanjo. Reducing the EU emissions yet again when the likes of China, India and the US plow on regardless is like turning up at an earthquake with a dustpan and brush
that was meant to say “how much it annoys”
Got a posh car ian r? Or perhaps you just aspire to one?