Transport and Environment - Bulletin / News and views from the field of transport and environment in Europe
The printable version of the December 2011 bulletin can be downloaded from our website.
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December 2011:
A 20-year wait for a disappointing revision of vehicle noise limits
The Commission has published its long-awaited proposals on reducing noise from cars, vans, buses and lorries, but the vast majority of cars already meet the first stage of the stricter limits, and almost a quarter meet the second stage. T&E says the proposals should have gone ‘farther and faster’, and has called for a third stage in the timetable in order to create an incentive for quieter vehicles.
California corrects Canadian lobbying
The battle over how to classify oil extracted from tar sands and oil shale under the EU's fuel quality directive has taken an interesting turn, with California's Air Resources Board writing to the EU climate commissioner telling her not to believe some of the lobbying undertaken by Canada and the oil industry.
'Fundamental rethink’ needed on EU biofuels policy
The United Nations’ special rapporteur on the right to food has called for an urgent rethink in EU biofuels policy before too much investment is made on the back of unsustainable biofuels targets. His comments come as more evidence emerges that biofuels may be a poor means of tackling climate change.
IMO’s climate efforts could save ship operators $50bn a year
The IMO’s mandatory efficiency measures for ships, agreed in July, could save ship operators $50 billion a year by 2020.
Progress at Durban but no action for nine years
The ‘Durban Platform’ may become as commonly known as the Kyoto Protocol, following a loose agreement at this month’s Durban climate change summit on a plan to work towards a global climate strategy. The plan is to agree the strategy by 2015 and for it to start in 2020.
Energy tax reform stuck in stupidity
Opinion
By Magnus Nilsson - T&E Senior Campaigner
Raising taxes on fossil fuels is pretty much the only climate policy tool that in all circumstances delivers real emission reductions. Telling people that the cost of petrol and diesel will have to rise may be a difficult message for politicians to put across, but if this method is rejected or not possible, climate policy will simply become unnecessarily costly. You would therefore assume that governments eagerly marketing themselves as "the greenest government ever" and the like would welcome proposals that increase their possibilities to use fuel taxation as a climate policy tool, which is exactly the purpose of the revision of the Energy Tax directive, put forward by the Commission in April this year.
Car industry split over response to 2020 emissions target
The process that will confirm how Europe’s 2020 emissions target for new cars should be reached has begun, with the leaders of Europe’s car makers greeted by a ‘Star Wars’ style protest. The current limit for new cars is 130g of carbon dioxide per kilometre to be achieved by 2015, and Europe has a target of 95 g/km for 2020.
Higher French penalties for gas guzzlers
The French government is reducing its subsidies for people buying fuel-efficient cars but is increasing penalties for buyers of high-consumption vehicles.
Fears for climate with new government in Spain
Environmental groups in Spain fear climate and environmental protection could be downgraded following last month’s change of Spanish government.
Belgian company car tax up
The Belgian government is putting up taxes on company cars in a package that will bring in around €200 million a year.
All Portuguese motorways tolled
Portugal has included the last 600 kilometres of motorways in its toll system, which means that all the country’s motorways are now tolled for all vehicles.
MEPs want 2020 target
The EU should impose a 20% reduction target for carbon dioxide emissions from the entire European transport sector by 2020, according to the European Parliament’s transport committee.
