Outside the U.S. the Developed World Is Working Hard on Environmental Responsibility
Gary Tulie, 2GreenEnergy super-supporter from Buckinghamshire, England (pictured), sent me this piece called Air Quality Plan: Diesel and petrol cars banned by 2040, £255m to tackle pollution blackspots. He writes: Hi Craig. The UK is to end sale of new diesel and petrol cars from 2040.
Great, Gary. Thanks very much. Progressive environmental policies like this are being implemented all over the developed world, except in the U.S., of course. However, I believe that the pendulum that has swung so far in the direction of the right wing, with its complete disregard for environmental responsibility, is about to head the other way.
Trump supporters were easy targets for the message that government is the enemy, with its political correctness, unprotected borders, and coddling of the lazy–and were eager to have a wealthy outsider (regardless of how he created his wealth) come in and “deconstruct the administrative state.” The practical realities of all this, however, are just now starting to hit them in the teeth. There are several obvious and direct ways this is being revealed to them:
• The detestable character of Trump himself, featuring our president’s limitless capacity for lying, profiting from his position as president, and obstructing the attempts of justice organizations to get to the bottom of this and other crimes. Some of these people may not be Boy Scouts in terms of honesty and trustworthiness, but everyone has a line somewhere.
• Jobs and the economy; they see jobs continuing to leave the U.S., they’re finding that their financial condition hasn’t magically started to improve, and they can see that tax breaks (when and if they occur) will be going almost exclusively to the super-rich.
• Healthcare. These people may not be rocket scientists, but they’re smart enough to be concerned about themselves and their loved ones, who will be living and dying in agony when they’re denied access to basic services.
Interesting time to be alive!
Craig,
It always baffles me how you can turn anything into an anti-Trump rant.
The UK government’s Air Quality Plan is more of a wish list than reality. Much of the plan can’t be effected without appropriate legislation, and any aspect can be reversed or modified by legislation or Ministerial directives (a much easier process than in the US).
Basically, the plan addresses the issue of NO2 levels. The plan provides central government assistance for local government to improve reductions in N2 emissions.
Among initiatives are a range of initiatives including further reductions of bus emissions. Just how effective this will be remains to be seen.
Once again, the government is spending money to encourage research into better battery (ESD) capacity. The idea of stopping sales of diesel for heavy vehicles by 2040 is dependent on an acceptable alternative, which currently doesn’t exist.
The plan is full of loopholes and get out clauses. It sounds good and produces great headlines, but lacks a great deal of substance.
Politically it works, since it’s all things to all people and adjourns the question for the next 23 years or at least 4 more elections.
One of the principle government motivators behind the Air Quality Plan, is senior minister Boris Johnson. Johnson, an early claen air advocate, was very impressed by his meeting with Toyota’s Akio Toyoda who is a passionate supporter for the development of advanced solid state battery technology.
Toyota, NEC, LG, BMW, Mercedes and several other manufacturers have been diverting resources to this promising area of ESD technology. Solid State allows for high energy density and very fast charging.
So far progress has been frustratingly slow, but it remains the focus of very serious research.
Craig, you wrote:
“However, I believe that the pendulum that has swung so far in the direction of the right wing, with its complete disregard for environmental responsibility, is about to head the other way.”
I think that you are probably right. Moreover, because our country is basically quite strong, we can weather considerable mismanagement and recover therefrom.