By Bruno Waterfield, Brussels 4:16PM BST 28 Mar 2011
The European Commission on Monday unveiled a “single European transport area” aimed at enforcing “a profound shift in transport patterns for passengers” by 2050.
The plan also envisages an end to cheap holiday flights from Britain to southern Europe with a target that over 50 per cent of all journeys above 186 miles should be by rail.
Top of the EU’s list to cut climate change emissions is a target of “zero” for the number of petrol and diesel-driven cars and lorries in the EU’s future cities.
Siim Kallas, the EU transport commission, insisted that Brussels directives and new taxation of fuel would be used to force people out of their cars and onto “alternative” means of transport.
“That means no more conventionally fuelled cars in our city centres,” he said. “Action will follow, legislation, real action to change behaviour.”
The Association of British Drivers rejected the proposal to ban cars as economically disastrous and as a “crazy” restriction on mobility.
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Gee, ya think? And the greens/labor wonder why they just got booted out of power in Australia and why the American public no longer gives a rodents posterior about global warming.
I think it will the EU that’s banned by 2050, not the automobile. Why? The automobile actually provides a useful function for people.
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Here’s the plan:
A new European transport plan 
aims to increase mobility and further integrate the EU’s transport networks – while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the bloc’s dependence on imported oil.
Measures to encourage major infrastructure investments, change the way freight moves and people travel would boost economic competitiveness and create jobs.
The plan – with goals to be met by 2050 – focuses on travel within cities and between cities, and on long distance journeys. It includes calls for:
- cities to completely phase out petrol cars
- shifting to rail or water 50% of all passenger and freight road transport currently making intercity journeys of more than 300km
- airlines to increase their use of sustainable low-carbon fuels to 40%
- shipping to cut 40% off its carbon emissions.
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UPDATE: Per my comment above:
I think it will the EU that’s banned by 2050, not the automobile. Why? The automobile actually provides a useful function for people.
It seems to mirror the thinking of many:
A MASSIVE wave of public support was last night surging behind the Daily Express’s crusade to liberate Britain from the stranglehold of Brussels.
An exclusive poll conducted on the first day of our crusade showed an astonishing 99 per cent of people agree we should quit the European Union.
In an indication of the strength of public feeling on the issue, the poll saw the biggest ever response to a Daily Express phone survey, with tens of thousands of people swamping our switchboards.
Read more and sign the petition: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/213821/21382199-of-you-say-Get-us-out-of-Europe#ixzz1HztMDhJN
h/t to Fred Berple for the update
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Volt Aire is right. The Euro is a busted flush – I’d give it another five years tops before Germany pulls the plug and abandons the Southern European states to their respective fates. I wouldn’t give the smaller Benelux countries much of a chance of surviving in the new financial era either, for that matter… Bye-bye EU!
Poor Ceausescu, he was way, way ahead of his time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systematization_(Romania)
Ah, but of course the inner city habitants cheers for it is much nicer to have above ground railroad system perforating the city streets rather than petrol cars and buss’. The screeching noise is more enjoyable than the occasional honking horn. The iron dust is more healthier than the nasty CO2. And just imagine nobody needing to do their hairs, step outside and get buzzed and fuzzed and really use all that static electricity.
Not to forget that the rubber particulates from the tires of electrical vehicle is so much more tastier than the rubber particulates from the nasty old petrol machinery.
Of course, gas powered vehicles will be allowed along side the nice electrical self inflammable hydrogen poppers in these new inner “static electrical” cities.
Then comes the tax collector to collect extra tax on energy used and spent and most importantly the new tax’s on rare earth metals, because we will need to save the planet and the future generations from rare earth metal scarcity.
And soon, in a town near you, streets will be filled with hippie communists running around screaming about the new plague of static electricity induced rash’, or what not, and demanding, yet again, the end of civilization, or else . . . they go really really bonkers . . . again!
I refuse to get worked up about a proposal so far ahead into the future that the chances of it coming to pass are virtually nil. The EU (we pray) may not even exist by then.
They want to heel the planet.
MUST READ:
Today’s Dilbert catoon (Mar 29)
“Stefan says:
March 29, 2011 at 2:12 am”
There was a time when rail in Britain was great, unfortunately Beaching, a politician, came along and ruined it forever.
Talking about “working from home”. When I worked in the late 80’s early 90’s in the UK I used to run, as part of my job, a “Telecommuting” system (Called “Horatius”)which enabled people to “work from home” simply by connecting standard 1200/2400 baud modems to a VM mainframe virtual “teletype” device among others. It worked very well and enabled one user, who suffered from MS to work and not drive to an office, not to save the planet from deadly CO2 emissions, but simply, he was unsafe to drive because of his MS. I had to set the system up his PC for voice activation.
Today working from home, or as my leaders like to call it “Desk Free Days”, is a lot easier and so I do, 5 days per week. No travelling, no spending on fuel and can wite off all my expenses aganist tax. And the Ausrtalian ATO is one of our clients.
Train? What train? How come, when we live quite a few miles from the nearest station which is itself several miles on the far side of our nearest small town? There are three buses per day into that town from our village, and only two back out…the bus stop is way down the hill from our house and I am, let us say, somewhat senior! I have never bothered with the free bus pass as those buses do not go where I want to go when I want to go, nor do they come back at suitable times, AND I cannot drag a trolley of heavy shopping up that hill. Great idea, EU. I can’t wait to get rid of the EUSSR. Our distant train ‘service’ is such a hassle that I never even try to use it.
Some years ago we drove to Reading and took a train up to London. It was a complete nightmare. Endless intrusive announcements; other passengers intruding into one’s personal space (nothing like having someone’s tatty old jeans-clad backside in your face!), tinny over-loud personal ‘music’ systems, a girl deliberately coughing over one, (the expression on the face of the offender giving the game away as to the intended action) despite there being a ‘flu panic at the time, etc., etc. I decided there and then that London could go jump into the sea.
Or, possibly, today’s cartoon! DOH! http://dibert.com/strips/
Volt Aire says:
March 29, 2011 at 1:43 am
I’m pretty sure the total ban will actually be either postponed, modified or both. There might for example be a penalty for driving a gas/diesel car in certain areas.
There is about zero possibility of this happening if we have failed to make electric cars a majority by that time. I see this as an promise to car manufacturers that there will be a big market for “greener” products.
Do not like the totalitarian way of pushing the message though.
————–
There’s about 54 years of oil left from our proven reserves at current rates, so by 2050 there is unlikely to be any left.
What method of transport will we use when there’s on petrol to put in our cars?
Oh, get a grip and check before posting! http://dilbert.com/strips/
And why ever not? I fail to understand the mind set that refuses to accept and change to established patterns. As someone not wedded to single occupancy large engined metal cans, I say “Go EU” … you get my vote!!!
The year, 2050: The place, Northern Hemesphere, PDREU, Sector:- UK. The time, Gaia Rebirth Season, (I think my grandparents used to call it Springtime in the bad old days) Hello, commrades in Colonia! Greetings, I have saved up my allowances for five months now, & have been given permission by my village commissar to use the interweb thingy & Youface/Facetube! I have an amasing 20 minutes useage allowed before the power grid shuts down for the week, except of course in Downing Street where the mighty powerful diesel generators run constantly with donated fuel from the glorious people to the Beautiful Leader! He promised in his last “What a State we are in” address to combat the rape gangs & murderous drug crazed criminals who roam the towns & countryside in the darkness stealing everything & anything, sadly we are powerless to stop such actions ever since the last person to defend himself with his legally held 12 bore was arrested, imprisoned, & “dissappeared” by the Glorious Forces of State Security, (well he did shoot one of the thieving murderous villains for raping his wife, killing his children, stealing his property, which under UK PC/Socialist laws was a jolly naughty thing to do as the criminal’s family were very upset, shocked, & traumatised about his sad demise, & they would be forced to claim the benefits directly instead of relying on him to claim them! (Apparently he should been have spoken to very firmly, that would do the trick they said!). Anyway, the News, many people were found frozen to death in their homes earlier this year, but official sources said the good thing was that they were slightly fewer than last year, & some of the deaths were attributed to the deadly Fukushima radiation disaster 40 years ago, (which is still circling the Earth, officials say, one of the many reasons we are not allowed out of our hovels very often, had a real treat last week end, my new neighbour has an electric oven & we had a two course hot meal, first in weeks, but he’s lucky, he works for the Beautiful Leader’s minions), but that the sacrifce to save Gaia was worth it as the temperatures were definitely coming down worldwide, & the people were certainly making lots of those……………sacrifices that is! Whoops, time is up, the lights are flickering, speak to you next August when the power comes back on & I have saved enough allowances! PS, I have been offered a chance in a lifetime holiday next year to the far East, where they enjoy free everything, care of the old west!
🙂 Sarc off! Enjoy the interglacial.
It’s all true, alas. You know, I wish, I really, really wish that, just once in a while, the powers that be would do something which does not conform quite so perfectly to the predictions of the more outré conspiratorial sites on the WWW. Meanwhile, all I can say is to ask our friends in the US, Oz, Canada and so on to remember one important thing: the brutes wrecking our society no more represent us than the brutes wrecking your societies represent you.
More cheery {/sarc} UK news: in today’s Independent we read that the presence at Saturday’s protest of the usual “anarchists” in their balaclavas and police boots just might be used as an excuse to introduce tough new security measures aimed at public rallies ahead of the royal wedding on Apr 29th: expect hasty legislation soon.
Is there a climate connection in all this? Yes, but unfortunately only to a climate of repression.
I assume the people that thought this up are leading by example as we speak, and have already given up their cars, chauffeaur driven limos. and won’t be flying anywhere ever again … yeah THAT’LL BE RIGHT!!!
For those that love history and living in the past, how the Romans lived will be another amazing EU project. I’d be all for it if the North Africans invade Italy on elephants with Qadsafi leading the way. Almost seems real, somehow.
Daryl M says:
March 28, 2011 at 11:16 pm
First we have the UK declaring to the citizens that they should not assume that power will always be available in the future.
Then we have Germany’s knee-jerk reaction to the accident in Fukushima, declaring that they will dismantle their nuclear power plants, leaving everyone to rely upon wind and solar power, like the Brits.
Now we have this declaration from from the EU. I’m sure all of the lazy overpaid bureaucrats will continue flying first class, staying at 5 star hotels and enjoying fine food and premier cru bordeaux, but all of the regular people can take the train.
This will be a good test for the people of Europe. Are you sheep or men? If you’re men, then throw these lunatics out of office now before they ruin your lives.
Unfortunately, your last point is not possible. The people in the European Commission who run the EU are unelected they are appointed. So they cannot be ‘thrown out of office’. The European Parliament is elected, but powerless to reign in the EC and is full of people there for the expenses and the free travel.
The best approach would be to insist that these bureaucrats and their staffs and parliamentary members are first to only use 100% electric vehicles in and around towns, they only travel by train between towns and only fly on aircraft that are powered by at least 40% low carbon fuel. In fact this rule should be implemented immediately.
This may make it difficult for an organization whose entire toothless talking-shop parliament shuttles monthly between EU Parliaments in Brussels and Strasbourg together with wagon-loads of papers.
I think that all you good people are being far too negative and stick in the mud.
My recommendation is that you should all embrace the change.
This proposal tops it all – it is real progress.
Let’s hope good Queen Green-Julia embraces this marvelous plan for us down under.
It will work so well in Sydney with our excellent train system that must cover at least the central 10% of the metropolis – ok, perhaps 2% might be more realistic.
My only quibble is – why wait for 2050?
Do it now – bring it on!
Yum Yum.
Truly the EUSSR
Or is that the Democratic Peoples Republic of
North KoreaEurope?It’s all George Orwell’s fault.
Roy says:
March 29, 2011 at 1:05 am
If I remember correctly I read somewhere that in many European countries serfs were not allowed to travel outside the area where they lived and worked without permission from the local authorities. (Someone please correct me if I’m wrong).
It looks as if the EU (or the EUSSR as some people say it should be called) want to reintroduce serfdom.
In some places in Europe it is required that if you move into an area after between 10 days and 30 days you are required to report to the local police and identify who you are and where you are staying.
In Belgium if you move into an apartment the landlord is required to put your name on the apartment post box; the local authorities check these names weekly and any new names are reported to local and national tax authorities.
Oakden Wolf at the top says:
March 28, 2011 at 10:29 pm
Oakden,
I hope folks realize this was not a frivolous comment:
The Impossible Dream ( The Quest ) is from Man of LaMancha,
with lyrics by Joe Darion.
The tune is sung by Don Quixote… who, for a lack of better
opponents, was occasionally found tilting at windmills.
We shall all be on foot but instead of banging coconuts together like in Python’s Holy Grail we’ll be making engine noises as we walk down the streets of this new paradise.
“Gee, ya think? And the greens/labor wonder why they just got booted out of power in Australia ”
Anthony; Australia is a democracy; the EU is not. We cannot boot comrade Kallas out of office. This, of course, only means that it will not be an election that puts an end to these schemes, but something else. My personal guess would be eruption of violence in various member states, followed by half-hearted attemps of violent suppression, followed by a mass exodus of entire nations from the stinking cadaver of what was once the EU.