next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
Tip: Your message to SUST-MAR must be html-free. So, BEFORE you hit SEND, please go to your "Format" pull-down menu and select "Plain text." Thanks!
____________________________________________________________________________
_________________________
WORLD CARFREE NEWS >>>
____________________________________
Edition no. 11 - August 2004 - English version
.............................................................
[. . .]
"I AM STUPID, I HAVE AN SUV"
[compiled from various sources]
The French government, in its 2004 Climate Plan, recently announced a scheme for trimming emissions of greenhouse gases but rejected a proposal to tax big, polluting cars like SUVs after it ran into fire from conservative politicians and carmakers, reports Agence France Presse.
The plan, unveiled by Ecology Minister Serge Lepeltier, will put EUR 90 million into about 60 measures "aimed at reducing pollution by carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming," reports AFP.
"But two major initiatives, both of them aimed at cars, were placed on the sidelines, triggering dismay among France's powerful green lobby."
"The [first] initiative, as sketched at its conception in September 2003, would levy taxes of between EUR 400 and 3,000 on cars that emit high levels of carbon dioxide. Cleaner cars would enjoy a tax break of between EUR 250 and 700, according to the emission level."
The tax regime was called by the European Federation for Transport & Environment in its latest bulletin as the "first to tackle SUVs."
"But it ran into opposition from lawmakers in the ruling UMP party," writes AFP, "as well as from makers of upscale cars that would have been most affected by the tax."
"German car manufacturers expressed satisfaction that the tax had been sidelined. They described it as 'unilateral and discriminatory.'"
"Another radical proposal, to reduce the speed limit on French motorways from 130 to 120 km/h, was also recently abandoned."
"Transport accounts for a quarter of France's greenhouse-gas emissions. The sector has experienced a huge rise in pollution - an increase of 23 percent in 2002 compared with the level of 1990."
Relatedly, in Paris, as was reported in the latest issue of "Car Busters," the local government enacted on a non-binding resolution that called for a ban on SUVs within the Paris city limits. Further to this issue, a US National Public Radio report quoted one Green Party member as saying that the SUV is "designed for deserts or mountains and there are no deserts or mountains in Paris." He proposed putting stickers on SUVs that say, among other phrases, "I am stupid, I have an SUV."
___________________
ANNOUNCEMENTS >>
______________________________
CARFREE LIVING DATABASE
Carfree City USA has recently completed an on-line registration tool for the purposes of creating a database of individuals, families, and organizations throughout the world who support and are interested in living carfree. This database will demonstrate that there is a demand for carfree living.
For information about the registration, visit
http://www.carfreecity.us:8070/carfreecity/jsp/registration.jsp (English only).
[. . .]
_____________________
DISCLAIMER >>
_____________________________
Although we continue to report on the SUV saga, this time on the streets of France, we might compare such stories to a different era of mobility and recall that in Paris, 1839, it was considered elegant to take a tortoise out for a walk.
[end]
____________________________________________________________________________
Did a friend forward this to you? Join sust-mar yourself!
Just send 'subscribe sust-mar' to mailto:majordomo@chebucto.ca
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects