UK Govt Committee: End All Private Vehicle Ownership Because Climate Change

Guest essay by Eric Worrall

h/t JoNova; Even EVs like Tesla are not safe from this new demand from the green British Conservative Government.

Ditch cars to meet climate change targets, say MPs
By Roger Harrabin
BBC environment analyst
22 August 2019

People will have to get out of their cars if the UK is to meet its climate change targets, MPs say.

The Science and Technology Select Committee says technology alone cannot solve the problem of greenhouse gas emissions from transport.

It says the government cannot achieve sufficient emissions cuts by swapping existing vehicles for cleaner versions. 

The government said it would consider the committee’s findings.

In its report, the committee said: “In the long-term, widespread personal vehicle ownership does not appear to be compatible with significant decarbonisation.”

It echoes a report from an Oxford-based group of academics who warned that even electric cars produce pollution through their tyres and brakes.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49425402

From the government press release;

Government’s target for ‘net-zero’ by 2050 undeliverable unless clean growth policies introduced

…

Plan for reducing vehicle emissions: The Government must bring forward the date of its proposed ban on the sales of new ‘conventional’ cars and vans to 2035 at the latest, and ensure that it covers hybrids too. In the near-term, the Government must reconsider the fiscal incentives for consumers to purchase both new and used vehicle models with lower emissions. The Government should also work with public services and owners of public land, such as schools and hospitals, to accelerate the deployment of electric vehicle chargepoints, and introduce measures to ensure that chargepoints are interoperable, compatible with a smart energy system, reliable, and provide real-time information on their current functionality. Although ultra-low emissions vehicles generate very little emissions during use, their manufacture generates substantial emissions. In the long-term, widespread personal vehicle ownership therefore does not appear to be compatible with significant decarbonisation. The Government should not aim to achieve emissions reductions simply by replacing existing vehicles with lower-emissions versions.

…

Read more: https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/science-and-technology-committee/news-parliament-2017/clean-growth-report-published-17-19/

If you ever attempted to get anywhere by British public transport you would know how absurd and out of touch this demand is.

Sure, getting about on the London metro underground is easy enough, but there are vast swathes of the country, even in the home counties close to London, where public transport, if available, is expensive, slow and unreliable.

When I lived in Britain I was approached on more than one occasion in London and elsewhere by groups of gentlemen hanging around public transport terminals, who seemed to want me to share the contents of my wallet with them. Though to be fair, after vigorous discussion, everyone always agreed that I could keep my money.

No remotely plausible investment in British public transport would replace the convenience, safety and accessibility of private vehicle ownership.

Of course if this policy is implemented, politicians and other important people would still enjoy a chauffeured limousine service; the prohibition will only affect private ownership of vehicles.