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."

New Tesla Model 3 aimed straight at the private car market

Elon Musk tells the world why the
new Tesla Model 3 is important.

The Tesla chief immediately jumped into the big questions during the big reveal: Why does Tesla exist? Why is Tesla doing this? Why are we making electric cars? Why does it matter?

“Because it’s very important to accelerate the transition to sustainable transport,” Musk said, eliciting cheers from the crowd.

“This is really important for the future of the world.”

He then presented slides on the record levels of carbon concentration, increased global temperatures as well as the 53,000 deaths a year in the U.S. that can be attributed to auto emissions.

Read the EcoWatch story - “Elon Musk Unveils Tesla Model 3: Accelerating Sustainable Transport Is ‘Important for the Future of the World’.”

(Elon Musk is an intelligent fellow with acute foresight, but the capitalist-like prism through which he views the world limits what he can see and rather than creating and building his range of electric Tesla cars, which are aimed straight at the private-owner market, his efforts, energy, entrepreneurship and forward thinking should be used to create a public transit system, particularly if he is truly concerned about sustainability, as it seems he is.

Cars, electric or otherwise, that are privately owned and used in that respect are contrary to what is needed if the world is to ever draw closer to sustainability – Robert McLean.)