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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1DandyTroll says:
March 29, 2011 at 2:57 am
“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!”
No; the enviros in the EU are paid by the EU itself to protest for even more draconian restrictions of personal freedom – so the EU commission can look benevolent compared to what the enviros want.
Scottish Sceptic says:
March 29, 2011 at 12:12 am
“…we, the people of Britain have never signed up for this quango, and so the EU is an unconstitutional and therefore illegal union.”
It only took the PM and the Monarch to sign the various “Treaties”. It is law all right. Watertight, even if treasonous. Revolution is the only way out but Jeremy Kyle, soap operas and sports programs keep a drugged populace “happy”.
As to, no more cars in cities – Mercedes, etc will have a “van” out in a jiffy. Looks like a utility vehicle from the outside. Feels just like a luxury limo on the inside. Costs a fortune. Complete with flat panel screens to simulate windows, bulletproofing and a “Return to Vendor” clause in the lease.
stephen richards says:
March 29, 2011 at 2:16 am
According to Obama natural gas is a renewable.
=//=//=//=//=
But it requires a heavy subsidy for bean farmers.
They wont be happy till we all return to the existence that was the lot of our forefathers, where people didnt travel further than they could walk from the confines of their village
Makes it a lot easier to implement control too
It’s a Hegelian dialectic.
I would love to see these eurocrats leading by example: getting rid of all their limos; using internet conferencing rather than flying to exotic venues for meetings; flying cattle-class, where the per capita CO2 cost is far less (if there is no alternative to flying); abandoning centralised parliamentary sessions which means dragging thousands of staff and officials hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of miles from their home countries to Brussels.
Add to this the cost and inconvenience of vastly increased travel times. My experience in the UK is that public transport adds significantly to travel times , compared to car travel, even at peak times. The trouble with the ruling classes is that they are essentially town based. They simply do not understand the problems of public transport travel in rural areas.
oh what brain damaged morons
I mean, those EU bureaucrats
By 2050 there won’t be ICE cars in Europe’s cities simply because oil won’t be affordable.
Total nutters!
When I was a kid and played with toy trains I enjoyed arranging tracks, switches, and little groups of buildings, loading docks, water towers, etc. Ditto when I played with blocks and designed buildings and hamlets. I was a little king.
But I put away childish things. Those who don’t hanker after playing toy-soldier and/or dollhouse with humanity. That’s what underlies the dirigiste impulse–infantile power trips.
PS: Those who supposedly want to heal the planet really want to heel the planet.
“I think it will be the EU that’s banned by 2050…” – No way can we wait that long, the damage will be far too great….
20501984EUrotic, adj.
1. A psychological condition characterized by episodes of complete divorcement from reality;
2. A strong sexual attraction to political power.
PPS: Europe is infested with these Little Napoleons.
I don’t know, this isn’t a bad idea just for towns. Electric cars will work on shortish journeys, which is what most journeys in towns are.
So long as there family-friendly access modes for out-of-town folks, this isn’t as mad as it seems you know…….
“Sustainable low carbon fuels” puzzles me, but this looks like my own ignorance. Does that mean fuels in which the molecules’ backbone has less carbon atoms???
I’ve said for years that one of the major reasons why the alarmists are going after air travel is because they want to stop people from going on vacation to resort locations. Leaving the resorts less crowded for them.
I don’t see any problem with this, as by 2050 we’ll all either have personal jet-packs or Star Trek transporters to get to the grocery store and back. ;->
Most of the price of petrol in Europe is due to taxes, right? So a doubling in the price of oil won’t double the price of petrol, unless taxes rise proportionately–which they needn’t do.
Anyway, petrol can be made from coal and natural gas if oil becomes too costly.
3. An infantile omnipotence-fantasy.
And how many new cars will be put on the road in China, India, and other developing countries during that period? Will any difference be noticed other than the economic decline of Europe?
MikeEE
I’m not giving up my Freelander for anyone.With winters growing colder and snowier and the roads where I live (in the sticks) tending to flood there one way I’ll ever use a tiny, low wheel base electric car.
One way? I mean no way of course…