Banning fossil fuelled cars isn't enough; we have to rethink our transportation system

The UK and France have banned the sale of gas and diesel powered cars by 2040, but it is too little, too late.

Last month the French Government announced a ban on Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) powered cars by 2040. Recently the British government followed suit.

2040 is a long way away, but a UK government spokesperson said “poor air quality is the biggest environmental risk to public health in the UK and this government is determined to take strong action in the shortest time possible.” According to the Guardian, it’s estimated that “outdoor pollution, much of it from vehicles, causes 40,000 deaths a year in the UK.” But that number is disputed, even by organizations such as Greenpeace who note:

…while a car crash can be said to be the exclusive cause of an individual’s death, nobody is dying purely as a result of air pollution. It could well have had a significant impact on somebody who died from heart disease, but it’s likely that other factors, such as diet or exercise, played a part too.

This is an important distinction. These French and British moves are encouraging, as is the wildly enthusiastic reception to the launch of the Tesla Model 3. But does a ban on ICE powered cars really make that much of a difference? Does it go far enough, fast enough? Is the pollution from cars their biggest problem? 

Read Lloyd Alter’s Treehugger story - “Banning fossil fuelled cars isn't enough; we have to rethink our transportation system."