Intl Energy Agency report urges ENERGY LOCKDOWNS: ‘Banning use of private cars on Sundays…Reducing highway speed limits…more working from home…cutting business air travel’ & SUV ‘tax’

Reposted from Climate Depot

IEA report ‘A 10-Point Plan to Cut Oil Use’ excerpts: “Reducing highway speed limits by about 6 miles per hour; more working from home; street changes to encourage walking and cycling; car-free Sundays in cities and restrictions on other days; cutting transit fares; policies that encourage more carpooling; cutting business air travel; and more.” … “Governments have all the necessary tools at their disposal to put oil demand into decline in the coming years, which would support efforts to both strengthen energy security and achieve vital climate goals.” …

Restricting private cars’ use of roads in large cities to those with even number-plates some weekdays and to those with odd-numbered plates on other weekdays

Car-free Sundays in cities: Banning the use of private cars on Sundays

‘Tax’ SUVs: “Sales of SUVs also keep increasing…policies to address the rise in sales of such vehicles – such as specific registration and road taxes – are key.” …Ban installation of new oil boilers

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Climate Depot’s Morano: “COVID 2.0 has arrived?! The 2022 International Energy Agency’s (IEA) report sounds an awful lot like an energy version of COVID lockdowns. Instead of opening America back up for domestic energy production, we are told to suffer and do with less and are prescribed the same failed lockdown-style policies we endured for COVID. It is odd how COVID ‘solutions’ also allegedly helped the climate and now the same solutions are being touted to deal with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  As a bonus, IEA tells us these measures will also help ‘achieve vital climate goals.’ Let’s simplify this: The proposed ‘solutions’ to climate change, COVID, and now the Russian war are all exactly the same — hammer the poor and middle class with more restrictions on travel, less freedom, and even more surrendering of power to unelected government regulators. 

This new 2022 report from IEA comes follows their 2021 report urging a form of climate lockdowns to battle global warming. The 2021 IEA report called for ‘behavioral changes’ to fight climate and ‘a shift away from private car use’ and ‘upper speed limits’ and thermostat controls; limits on hot water & more!.“

From COVID Emergency to War & Back to ‘Climate Emergency’: House Dems want Biden to declare national ‘climate emergency’

By: Marc Morano – Climate Depot

March 18, 2022

Via Axios: https://www.axios.com/russia-crisis-oil-use-703bcc17-1b7c-4ede-9510-e5e8e26ea623.html

Russia crisis spurs push to cut oil use

By Ben Geman

The International Energy Agency just unveiled ideas for quickly cutting oil demand at a time when Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine could bring substantial loss of Russian barrels from global markets.

Why it matters: The 10-point plan comes amid IEA warnings that the war could become the biggest supply crisis in decades as countries look to isolate Russia.

• It’s part of a wider reckoning in Europe — Russia’s largest market — and elsewhere over how to curb reliance on Russia while keeping markets supplied and avoiding even greater economic shocks.

Zoom in: The plan says that “immediate actions” in advanced economies could reduce global oil demand by about 2.7 million barrels per day within four months.

They include…

• Reducing highway speed limits by about 6 miles per hour; more working from home; street changes to encourage walking and cycling; car-free Sundays in cities and restrictions on other days; cutting transit fares; policies that encourage more carpooling; cutting business air travel; and more.

The big picture: Russia is the world’s largest combined exporter of crude and oil products combined and the second-largest crude exporter.

• The plan arrives two days after IEA projected that Russian exports could fall by around 2.5 million barrels per day next month and maybe more “should restrictions or public condemnation escalate.”

Our thought bubble: This all seems … maybe hard to imagine? The idea of coordinated adoption of mass behavioral changes on a compressed time frame sounds like an uphill climb.

The intrigue: The report also notes the near-term proposals should be part of wider, longer-term efforts to curb oil demand to help fight climate change and cut air pollution.

• It talks up areas like stronger policies for deployment of EVs, charging infrastructure, home heat pumps and more.
• “Governments have all the necessary tools at their disposal to put oil demand into decline in the coming years, which would support efforts to both strengthen energy security and achieve vital climate goals,” it states.

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IEA report:

Press Relase: https://www.iea.org/news/emergency-measures-can-quickly-cut-global-oil-demand-by-2-7-million-barrels-a-day-reducing-the-risk-of-a-damaging-supply-crunch

In the face of the emerging global energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the IEA’s 10-Point Plan to Cut Oil Use proposes 10 actions that can be taken to reduce oil demand with immediate impact – and provides recommendations for how those actions can help pave the way to putting oil demand onto a more sustainable path in the longer term. …

If fully carried out in advanced economies, the measures recommended by the IEA’s new 10-Point Plan to Cut Oil Use would lower oil demand by 2.7 million barrels a day within four months – equivalent to the oil demand of all the cars in China. This would significantly reduce potential strains at a time when a large amount of Russian supplies may no longer reach the market and the peak demand season of July and August is approaching. The measures would have an even greater effect if adopted in part or in full in emerging economies as well. …

The new report also includes recommendations for decisions to be taken now by governments and citizens to transition from the short-term emergency actions included in the 10-Point Plan to sustained measures that would put countries’ oil demand into a structural decline consistent with a pathway towards net zero emissions by 2050. …

The short-term actions it proposes include reducing the amount of oil consumed by cars through lower speed limits, working from home, occasional limits on car access to city centres, cheaper public transport, more carpooling and other initiatives – and greater use of high-speed rail and virtual meetings instead of air travel.

Most of the proposed actions in the 10-Point Plan would require changes in the behaviour of consumers, supported by government measures.

The new report also includes recommendations for decisions to be taken now by governments and citizens to transition from the short-term emergency actions included in the 10-Point Plan to sustained measures that would put countries’ oil demand into a structural decline consistent with a pathway towards net zero emissions by 2050.

…

The short-term actions it proposes include reducing the amount of oil consumed by cars through lower speed limits, working from home, occasional limits on car access to city centres, cheaper public transport, more carpooling and other initiatives – and greater use of high-speed rail and virtual meetings instead of air travel.

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Several of the measures can be implemented directly by other layers of government – such as state, regional or local – or just voluntarily followed by citizens and corporates, enabling them to save money while showing solidarity with the people of Ukraine. …The IEA report notes that reducing oil use must not remain a temporary measure. Sustained reductions are important not only to improve countries’ energy security but also to tackle climate change and reduce air pollution. Governments have all the necessary tools at their disposal to put oil demand into decline in the coming years, and the report sets out the key ones to achieve this goal, including hastening the adoption of electric vehicles, raising fuel economy standards, boosting alternative fuel supplies, accelerating heat pump deployment, and producing and consuming plastic more sustainably.

#Full Report: https://www.iea.org/reports/a-10-point-plan-to-cut-oil-use

Alternate private car access to roads in large citiesUsing high-speed and night trains instead of planes where possibleAvoid business air travel where alternative options existReinforce the adoption of electric and more efficient vehiclesBanning the use of private cars on Sundays…Restricting private cars’ use of roads in large cities to those with even number-plates some weekdays and to those with odd-numbered plates on other weekdays is a measure with a long track record of successful implementation. During the first oil shock, the Italian government substituted car-free Sundays with an odd/even number plate policy. Since the 1980s, such schemes have been deployed in many cities to tackle congestion and air pollution peaks, including Athens, Madrid, Paris, Milan and Mexico City. …But governments must also consider accelerating their clean energy transitions and building on their net zero emissions strategies. To reach net zero emissions by 2050, oil demand in advanced economies in 2030 must be more than 15 million barrels a day lower than in 2021.…Yet sales of SUVs also keep increasing, with the vehicles accounting for nearly 10% of oil use in advanced economies. Policies to address the rise in sales of such vehicles – such as specific registration and road taxes – are key to achieve steady overall fuel economy progress and oil savings …Accelerate the replacement of oil boilers with heat pumps and ban installation of new ones:Alternate private car access to roads in large cities

Using high-speed and night trains instead of planes where possible

Avoid business air travel where alternative options exist

Reinforce the adoption of electric and more efficient vehicles

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