By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist
In an effort to cut climate change emissions, the European Commission has unveiled a draconian new plan that is aimed at enforcing "a profound shift in transport patterns for passengers" by 2050 that includes banning all cars and trucks from cities and restricting air travel.
According to The Telegraph, the plan was unveiled yesterday and is intended to establish a "single European transport area" that will ban all cars and diesel-driven trucks from cities by 2050. The plan will also sharply curtail short air flights, requiring that half of all journeys below 186 miles be by rail.
Officials say the directives will be enforced through new taxes on fuel that will be high enough to force people out of their cars and into "alternative" means of transportation. If you hit your dry paint with soapy water, you'll just grind the surface dust and road grit into your paint finish. Professional detailing of car always start with a clear water rinse to remove as much dust and dirt as possible.
"That means no more conventionally fuelled cars in our city centers," said Siim Kallas of the EU transport commission. "Action will follow, legislation, real action to change behavior."
Kallas insisted that the EU plan is not intended to limit personal mobility or reduce Europe's economic competitiveness.
"Curbing mobility is not an option, neither is business as usual. We can break the transport system's dependence on oil without sacrificing its efficiency and compromising mobility. It can be win-win," Kallas claimed.
The public isn't buying it.
"The EU must be living in an alternate reality, where they can spend trillions and ban people from their cars," said Christopher Monckton, a spokesman for the United Kingdom's Independence Party (UKIP), which advocates for withdrawal from the EU.
"This sort of greenwashing grandstanding adds nothing and merely highlights their grandiose ambitions."
The Association of British Drivers (BDA) is also rejecting the proposal.
"I suggest that he goes and finds himself a space in the local mental asylum," said BDA spokesman Hugh Bladon to the Telegraph.
"If he wants to bring everywhere to a grinding halt and to plunge us into a new dark age, he is on the right track. We have to keep things moving. The man is off his rocker."
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