Borris
Super Poster
VIP Member
I believe that the emphasis is on private cars for a very good reason. "At the end of 2016 there were 37.3 million vehicles licensed for use on the roads in Great Britain, of which 30.9 million were cars". That's 30.9 million very lucrative cash cows.I never hear about targeting fifthly diesel trains built in the 90's that belch out fumes, or coaches that the council contract to take kids to school that are 20-years old?
The focus seems to be on privately owned cars, many of which are Euro 5 & 6 engines and, by comparison, somewhat cleaner than their predecessors.
I do think we have a growing pollution problem, but new diesel cars are not the biggest contributors.
When we go electric, the focus will shift to the particles from brakes, tyres and the like...
With car sales falling and car manufacturing in the doldrums, if the Government can persuade us all to change our cars to electric then the ailing car industry is onto another winner for the next few years until it's discovered that EVs aren't the answer after all. Then we will be told we must change our cars to something else because producing vehicle batteries is highly polluting and therefore very environmentally unfriendly. What goes around comes around.
Yes, we have a big issue with global warming but forcing diesel cars off the roads isn't going to improve that situation. As EVs are still far to expensive for the majority of buyers, I suspect most buyers would consider buying petrol instead. Petrol vehicles produce much more CO2 than diesels which was the reason we were all told to buy diesels a few short years ago.
What's being done about aircraft pollution? Heathrow takes in about 1300 aircraft a day that's one every 45 seconds. A similar number are dealt with by Gatwick. With the prevailing wind direction over London being from the south west it stands to reason that a significant amount of London's problem comes from above. Jet aircraft crop dust just the same types of pollutants that are currently being blaimed almost exclusively on diesel cars.
I'm not defending the diesel car but instead questioning why a more even handed approach to dealing with this issue isn't being pursued.