Bans of Gasoline and Diesel Vehicles: Coming To a Theater Near You
It was just a few days ago that we discussed the new world’s record that Scotland set for the deployment of tidal energy. Here we are less than a week later, and Scotland announces their coming ban (in 2032) on the sale of new cars and trucks powered by gasoline and diesel.
It’s great to see Great Britain and Western Europe leading the way in clean energy policy, especially at a point in time when the U.S. is running backwards as fast as its little legs will carry it. England, Spain, France, Norway, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Portugal, have all set official targets, as have Japan, China, India, and Korea. Good to know.
Using clean energy can not only protect the environment, reduce pollution, but it can also save the energy.
Charcoal Production Line,
Gosh, really ! Wow! Oh come on next thing you’ll be telling me if it doesn’t rain, tomorrow will be a dry day!
Craig,
I hate to dampen your enthusiasm, but “Scotland” isn’t a sovereign nation, more like an American state.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is most unlikely survive until the next election on 2021. The SNP has lost it’s novelty and appeal. She only minority government only governs with support from minor parties.
These announcements are meaningless, since there no EV’s exist to replace the range of gasoline models. If you read the fine print it’s like the excitable announcement by the Chinese owned automaker , Volvo.
Volvo’s announcement that it would only produce electric cars from 2020, made sensational headlines. However, when carefully examined “electric vehicle ” became “hybrid” and very mild hybrids at that ! (in some models just putting in a bigger car battery.)
Setting an ” Official Target” is all very well, especially if you won’t be around or accountable for when the target fails.
Still, it makes for good headlines.
Re: Scotland, I guess it would be fair to say that it’s a hybrid; it’s one of four “countries” (not states) that exist in the UK. Is that correct?
It’s certainly true that “targets” can change. Anything can change before it actually happens.
Craig,
Scotland and Wales are historically termed as ‘countries”, because hundreds of years ago they were independent kingdoms.
The modern conditions of self governing are more like American states.
These entities are creations of the UK parliament. They exercise authority not as sovereign powers but only with endorsement and permission of the Westminster UK government.
It’s the term that’s confusing, not the reality. Tony Blair allowed the absurd notion to grow that these entities could succeed or become independent. A referendum was even conducted.
The result of the referendum would have meant nothing, since the Parliament of Scotland has no power to declare anything, only the UK government parliament could vote on such an issue.
After all the novelty and press hype wore off, people calmed down and lost interest.
The desire for independence grew during the bleak days of desperate de-industrialization and failed socialist economic social engineering of post war Britain 1950-1980 .
The shock of brutal economic and social reform and modernization promoted during the Thatcher years left Scotland and Wales impoverished and disrupted.
Unfortunately, although the Thatcher government reforms were spectacularly successful in the south of Britain, they proved were less successful in the north for a complex variety of reasons. Restructuring proved bitter and difficult.
The Blair government continued the reforms but without the same discipline and the economy became even more divided creating fertile ground for ancient bitterness’s to resurface.
In the north as antiquated manufacturing disappeared, coal mines closed and the old labour and union ideologies lost ground, a new movement arose, blaming everything on “English” domination.
“Independence” became fashionable and was well exploited by populist politicians,idealists and romantic celebrities. Only an”independent” Scotland financed with North Sea Oil and Gas revenue could solve all ills.
Thus began the revival of the SNP. The Scottish Nationalist Party had been a joke for many years, but suddenly it replaced the old crumbling Labour voter base with a new left-green vision of utopia, ‘tartan’ nationalism.
Like their old socialist predecessors, the SNP preached what their supporters wanted to hear. In reality, their claims were absurd.
Like Trump Supporters or radical leftists, they looked at only the positives, the dream, without any reference to reality or downsides.
Brexit saw the beginning of the end for the SNP, already battling a powerfully resurgent Scottish Conservative movement and a painfully regrouping labour party, the people of Scotland are realizing it was all a fanciful illusion.
The collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland, drop in old price, along with the threat of subsidy withdrawal by Westminster has driven the SDP into making increasingly radical announcements.
When these claims and dreams fail to materialize, so too will SNP support.
This scenario has historic precedent. For many years romantic Scots would celebrate by raising a glass to the “King over the Water”,n tribute to the the Jacobite Pretender, but no one really wanted him back !
As Brexit proceeds and the UK starts strengthening it’s ties with it’s old Commonwealth, the SNP will grow increasingly corrupt and irrelevant.
Reality’s a bitch ! It always turns up to bite idealists when least expected !
This is really a great news.