The UK has rejected a call by the EU to ban all petrol and diesel cars from city centres by 2050.
The EU wants to ban "conventionally fuelled" cars in an attempt to cut carbon emissions by 60%, but UK Transport Minister Norman Baker said it should not be "involved" in individual cities' transport choices.
[B]"We will not be banning cars from city centres anymore than we will be having rectangular bananas," he said.[/B]
Part of the plan wants half of "middle distance journeys" between cities - above approximately 186 miles - to shift from road to rail.
Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said this move, plus the phasing out of petrol or diesel cars in city centres, need not inconvenience people.
"Freedom to travel is a basic right for our citizens," he said. "Curbing mobility is not an option. Nor is business is usual."
"The widely-held belief that you need to cut mobility to fight climate change is simply not true. We can break the transport system's dependence on oil without sacrificing its efficiency and compromising mobility."
But ministers indicated they would not be adopting the main plank of the EU plan.
"It is right that the EU sets high-level targets for carbon reduction, however it is not right for them to get involved in how this is delivered in individual cities," Mr Baker said.
[URL]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12879566[/URL]
Imagigne rectangular bananas. That would be awesome.
[editline]28th March 2011[/editline]
However, banning cars like that might not be a good idea. Or at least banning the sale of them.
[b]from city centres by 2050.[/b]
Why not exactly
Because UK is mainly funded by oil companies and if they get angry the country's pretty much in permanent deficit?
Rectangular bananas would actually be more efficient for storage.
I don't agree with any resolutions like this. This would render a lot of classic cars illegal and if you modified them to fit standards they'd lose a lot of their classic image.
[QUOTE=teh pirate;28861611]I don't agree with any resolutions like this. This would render a lot of classic cars illegal and if you modified them to fit standards they'd lose a lot of their classic image.[/QUOTE]
While I'm against this, if such a thing did happen, I'd like it to be where if you own a classic car or something, you can apply for a permit.
Read the thread title
"lol what are the EU up to now"
Then I read they want to do it by 2050, now I'm in support of the EU on this. We'll barely have any oil left by then anyway
[QUOTE=DireAvenger;28861567]Because UK is mainly funded by oil companies and if they get angry the country's pretty much in permanent deficit?[/QUOTE]
I have no idea where you got this idea from
Nuclear cars.
The EU is a joke. The only reason we really need it is for trade. Their laws are agreements can fuck off.
[editline]28th March 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Loures;28861808]Nuclear cars.[/QUOTE]
That could actually work.
In other news, scientists from the UK have invented a new "rectangular banana". More at 10.
[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;28861703]We'll barely have any oil left by then anyway[/QUOTE]
We're always finding new oil, and regardless, chances are the figures for oil have been underestimated. If there is a perceived lack of oil then the oil companies can keep oil prices high.
EU can fuck right off.
[QUOTE=Dotmister;28861770]I have no idea where you got this idea from[/QUOTE]
BP
[b]B[/b]ritish [b]P[/b]etroleum
[QUOTE=Treybuchet;28861941]BP
[b]B[/b]ritish [b]P[/b]etroleum[/QUOTE]
Actually they're just called BP which now stands for Beyond Petroleum.
[QUOTE=The mouse;28861832]
That could actually work.[/QUOTE]
Yeah. Looking at the average IQ of humanity, the first day nuclear cars will be used, they will be crashed and cause the next Chernobyl.
[QUOTE=Dlaor-guy;28862071]Yeah. Looking at the average IQ of humanity, the first day nuclear cars will be used, they will be crashed and cause the next Chernobyl.[/QUOTE]
Dude, the reactor would be very small, like a half a of your pocket or even smaller, and the space left would be used for cooler... cool ehh?
Maybe I missed my point, if reactor is that small, putting it into very fat chamber of metal wouldn't be problem. Therefore crashing it into anything wouldn't hurt it... very much.
[QUOTE=Dlaor-guy;28862071]Yeah. Looking at the average IQ of humanity, the first day nuclear cars will be used, they will be crashed and cause the next Chernobyl.[/QUOTE]
IIRC, Nuclear powered cars were already tried. Steam powered engines aren't efficient.
[QUOTE=Coffee;28862010]Actually they're just called BP which now stands for Beyond Petroleum.[/QUOTE]
doesn't change that they're headquartered in london
[QUOTE=HeatPipe;28862253]Dude, the reactor would be very small, like a half a of your pocket or even smaller, and the space left would be used for cooler... cool ehh?[/QUOTE]
Or we could just wait 5-10 years for Electric Cars to become cheaper and then we live off them?
Banning cars? Yeah, not gonna happen.
But it would still be fucking cool to have no roads and just underground monorails. :D
Actually, I fucking support this.
The little city I live in will probably have grown quite a lot in 39 years and I sure as fucking hell don't want the city to be full of fucking cars.
I can already imagine how awesome it would be.
Hell, they could even build a metro system for quick transportation.
Or underground tunnels and then have some things they have at airports that you can just step on and chill and keep on moving. I doubt the city would be big enough for a metro at that point, so that sounds good.
Title is misleading as fuck.
It's actually a good idea - but it's horribly impractical.
[QUOTE=Richard Simmons;28862288]IIRC, Nuclear powered cars were already tried.[/QUOTE]
they were tried in the 1950s but people were so scared of driving a nuclear reactor it never took off.
[QUOTE=ButtsexV3;28862290]doesn't change that they're headquartered in london[/QUOTE]
They're a multinational corporation, they employ many people from various walks of life.
[QUOTE=HeatPipe;28862253]Dude, the reactor would be very small, like a half a of your pocket or even smaller, and the space left would be used for cooler... cool ehh?
Maybe I missed my point, if reactor is that small, putting it into very fat chamber of metal wouldn't be problem. Therefore crashing it into anything wouldn't hurt it... very much.[/QUOTE]
actually closer to two cubic feet, including the cooling mechanism.
[editline]28th March 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Coffee;28862336]They're a multinational corporation, they employ many people from various walks of life.[/QUOTE]
that's like saying McDonalds isn't an American company.
People get around central london by Tube or Foot way more than by car. It's just not practical to drive around unless it's a gee-whiz or some shit.
So actually, it's a good idea, but no-one will ever agree to it. We're too attached to cars right now.
[QUOTE=ButtsexV3;28862330]they were tried in the 1950s but people were so scared of driving a nuclear reactor it never took off.[/QUOTE]
You could say it went down a bomb.
Well I wouldn't go as far as banning them from city centres, but IMHO I'd make damn sure tolls are crazy expensive... that'd should be a good deterrent...
Most people forget that owning a car is a luxury, not a right or a privilege.
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